The Meeting

I had been living with my foster parents and foster brothers.  A High School Musical 2 blue Volvo 240 wagon pulled into their driveway and there were Marlene and Erin, there to pick me up for my first night with them.  I went into the backseat and enjoyed the nice drive, having a nice conversation with my sister-to-be and mother-to-be. 

At home in Hillsborough

We went through a narrow, but neat bridge called the Gunningsville Bridge.  Then we rounded a corner and passed stores and a gas station.  Then we went down a lovely country road past towers and past a convenience store.  Minutes later, we entered a beautiful town called Hillsborough, New Brunswick with my school-to-be, a gas station, a convenience/drug store, a post office, a train with a lot of cars known as the S&H Dinner Train, and a couple of beautiful white churches.  We rounded another corner and went up a steep street called Taylor’s Lane.  Then we rounded another corner, which was the driveway to the house.  I finally saw the house.  It was odd shaped, like a slide with windows (I’m not putting it down).  When I got out of the car, a Golden Retriever that looked like Shadow in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey named Katie and a Lassie sable and white mongrel named Nicky greeted me.  Then out of the house came 3 other sisters-to-be: Stephanie, Melody, and Jennifer.  Across from the house was an old barn in which I was told there used to be horses. 

Pat and Erin

I went in the house and it was the nicest thing I had ever seen.  There were also 2 cats: a scratchy black and white cat named Gloria and a scratch-free Calico named Sally.  There was an atrium-like living room, a few couches, a kitchen/dining room, a porch, a bathroom and an apartment for my grandfather-to-be on the middle floor; a bathroom and lots of bedrooms and an attic on the top floor, and on the bottom floor was a room with a piano!  It didn’t take me long to figure out how to open it, and immediately I started to play some notes and Melody taught me the names of those notes, and that in Germany there was a note called F.  Pretty soon my Dad-to-be showed up home from his work in his High School Musical 1/3 red Datsun pickup.  He was very cheerful.  Mom and I went back into Moncton to go grocery shopping at this cool store called the Co-op, which not only sold groceries, but there was a bottom floor linked by escalators that sold toys and electronics.  I spent the night there and enjoyed it there.  There was another night I spent there weeks later. 

 Chapter 2:  The Adoption/Family/Friends/Adventures

 At my foster family’s house I was patiently awaiting the arrival of my parents to take me to my new house, or as I called it, “Erin’s house.”  Shortly, the same Volvo 240 wagon showed up.  We took the same beautiful drive, and we arrived at the house.  Dad was already there.  I soon met friends and relatives in the family:  Our neighbors Sandy, Allen, Ryan, Jeremy, and Jordan McWilliams and their Airedale Terrier Abby; my grandmothers Florence Richard of Toronto AKA Gram (Mom’s mother); Helen McGrath AKA Nana (Dad’s Mother); and my grandfathers Ed Richard AKA Gramps (Mom’s father); and Harold McGrath AKA Granddad; Bill McGrath AKA Uncle Bill, also AKA Ubie; Lynn McGrath AKA Lynnie; other aunts Marion and Betty; uncles Jake and Don; and cousins; our plow operator for snow days Dids Woodworth (if I spelled the first name correctly); school bus driver Mack Woodworth which I will mention later (Dids’ brother); house cleaner Marjorie; school mates which I will mention later;  the Wissinks who also had a piano, daughters and a son all of whom were musical, and a Border Collie named Duff who I thought at the time I met her was just another Nicky, only black and white instead of the sable coloring; the Woods who owned a lobster shop quite close to Fundy Park; our priest and people who went to our church when I was there; our friends Norma and Steven and their son and daughters whom I will mention later; and teachers in the schools I went to, also whom I will mention later.  Friends who lived near the Hopewell Rocks named The Smiths were friends we visited often, and they had 2 pianos in the house:  one like the Wissinks’ upstairs and what looked like a coverless, less than 88-key, and apartment-sized Yamaha downstairs.  I forgot to mention in the last chapter that they had lots of nice music tapes that we listened to:  Huey Lewis Sports; Huey Lewis Fore; Mike and Michelle; Sharon, Lois, and Bram; Don McLean; Anne Murray; and lots of memorable songs that I like to look back on.  Soon I went by school bus for the first time for my first day of school.  The aforementioned Mack Woodworth seemed very friendly and funny and sometimes for a joke I would take off his hat.  There were so many pianos in that school.  I met lots of friendly kids in the school, some of which I had already met before during visits, although some were not as friendly.    

We gathered near the end of the day at our neighboring classroom to sing some songs accompanied by that room’s teacher on the piano, which I noticed was 2 notes off key.  If she played O’Canada in E flat, it sounded like it was in the key of C#, and if she played Happy Birthday to someone in C, it sounded as if it was the key of B Flat, and if she played Silent Night in B Flat it came out A Flat.  There was a music class as well, and the teacher was very nice.  In fact, all the teachers in that school and all the schools I went to were nice and friendly, some funny at times. One day I went to school and came back home to a surprise:  We got a second piano on the middle floor that looked almost like the one in the school’s music room, only this one was mahogany in color and the one in the music room was black, our new one was a Tadashi and the one in the music room was a Yamaha, ours had 3 pedals: right damper, middle to put fabric between the hammers and the keys to quiet playing, and the left to push the hammers closer to the strings to soften playing. And the one in the music room only had two: right the damper and left the one that pushes the hammers closer to the strings to soften the sound.  With the one downstairs, the middle pedal for some reason just raised the bass dampers and left the upper ones down, as did the other ones in the houses and the school that I saw.  The downstairs piano, by the way, was a Mason & Risch, the Wissinks’ was a Sherlock Manning, and I never got to read the names on the ones at the school other than the one in the music room.    

Soon I met a speech pathologist named Dr. Rubell, who also helped me in school.  He was helpful to teach me vocabulary.  He had a moustache and the kind of suit I saw my Dad wear to his office (by the way, Dad is a lawyer).  After we were finished with him, one day Mom and I ran into him at the Co-op and he was in his tank top as if he was in a marathon.  Another time we met him at that grocery store he changed his look.  He still had a mustache, but he looked like Jeffrey Jones in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, only black hair instead of red. 

Pretty soon, because we grew as a family and we were to take some camping and hotel trips and for the camping trips we were taking our dogs, we bought a brown Ford van from a friend of ours which came in really handy.  We went on camping trips, a few times to Fundy Park, and a few times to Cabot Park in PEI.  We also went a few times to Halifax and once to Boston and for both those destinations we stayed in beautiful hotels with pools, and in Boston, when you get in the elevator, it’s a glass elevator, and through the glass you can see this grand piano.  During the trips to all those destinations, since we FINALLY had a tape player in a car (the Volvo and the Datsun had American Graffiti-style radios with no tape or CD player) and we listened to music like Traveling WiIlburys, Dirty Dancing, Lionel Richie, James Taylor, Paul Simon, The Big Chill, Stand By Me, among other memorable ones.  During summers we would have barbecues with our Uncle Bill as the cook, and I also watched him cook pizzas and other fine recipes he did very well at.  I would watch him cut up the vegetables, like the green peppers.  We also had bonfires in which we roasted marshmallows, and it was then I noticed that mosquitoes flying by my ear would almost always buzz in the same note. 

With Nicky.

Some nights Nicky would sleep on a pillow right by my bed and it was his presence there that calmed me and helped me have less nightmares than I did when he was not there.  Soon we took one of our “Sunday Drives” to a place between Moncton and Riverview called Salisbury, New Brunswick, and we came to this farm house and when I got out these Golden Retrievers of all colors and styles and spaniels gazed at us and started wagging their tails at us.  We went into this farm house and down the steps to the basement in which there were cages, and in the cages were these cute-as-a-button Golden Retriever puppies who came to us and whined at us as if to say “Please, take me home!”  We purchased one of the puppies, whom we named Simon.  Shortly after we had gotten Simon, Katie passed away, which saddened all of us.  Thank God we still had Nicky and Simon.  Simon also joined us for camping trips. 

Another thing I noticed was that my oldest sister Jennifer was into stories, literature, fictional figures like you see and read about in the Chronicles Of Narnia books and movies like unicorns, fauns, giants, minotaurs, centaurs, and other fascinating myth figures and things from Greek Mythology, horses, dogs, and livestock.  Before I ever saw the house, she had horses in the stable in the old barn named J.D. and Leah.  Also, in addition to the Volvo 240 wagon, the red Datsun pickup, and the brown Ford van, Gramps had his own car: a Matrix green Grease-style Comet coupe, which he traded later for a Finding Nemo blue Plymouth Reliant coupe.  Granddad had a Pontiac sedan.  Gram had a Volvo 240 sedan, same year as our wagon, only tan in color.  Bill had a matching truck to our red one, only his was re-named Nissan and nickel silver in color, and a newer year, but same shape as our red one.  Sometimes Dad and I would go to the dump in the red truck and during the drive Dad and I would listen to the radio and sing I Had A Dog and Swingin’ On A Star.  CBC radio had this program called Swingin’ On A Star.  Sometimes we would go to Alma and have the Sticky Buns from the bake shop.  Sometimes we would play games like Scrabble, Monopoly, Crazy 8s, Go Fish, and this cute board game with cards, game pieces, and dice, called Benji with the dog of the title from the Joe Camp movies in which if you land on Fierce Dog, you have to go back to Start. 

Love music.

Another thing we did for fun was just outside of Hillsborough there was a road with 2 covered bridges, 2-3 feet apart from each other, and when we went in each covered bridge, provided there wasn’t somebody outside by it, we would stop, honk the horn, and make a wish.  There was a time when we actually took the S&H Dinner Train and it was a lot of fun.  Sometimes we went to the Albert County Exhibition and my favorite thing at the time was the cars ride in which you sit in the drivers’ side of sports car replicas and it takes you around like a carousel and you can pretend you are driving the car.  If I could go back to that time I could fantasize I am listening to Mumford & Sons and Adele as I am driving and I am going to Halifax or Saint John.  There were a couple of times my family and I saw Sharon, Lois, and Bram in concert in a theatre in Sackville.  We even visited Gram in Toronto a couple of times, and I was amazed by the size of the city and the speed of the subways and the size of the buildings in that city.  During that era I also used to watch this Looney Tunes VHS with Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Granny, Sylvester, Daffy Duck, and other funny Looney Tunes, in which Elmer Fudd’s house fills with acorns and he attempts several times to blast Bugs with his rifle..  Sometimes I also watched Disney movies like Lady and the Tramp, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Bambi, Robin Hood, and lots among classics.  I also watched Sharon, Lois, and Bram’s shows. 

Grade 8

After a bit of an absence, the school year stories are returning. Catch up on all the school years.

This was my last year of Junior High.  My homeroom teacher was my French teacher, newcomer Miss Cote.  My gym teacher’s name was Mr. Adams.  My social studies teacher was Ms. McClafferty.  I had the same shop and home economics teachers. 

Miss Cote introduced us to French music by pop artist Roch Voisine, playing his famous English/French Album Helene, and I liked all the songs, so I bought the tape myself. 

In band I played the tuba, later the clarinet, and then finally, I started playing the trombone. 

Again I played the sports and watched them in intramurals. 

Erin played house league basketball.  She also played for Hillcrest. 

I was reading Listen for the Singing by Jean Little with help from a teacher who was a coach and sports teacher, named Mr. Bowser.  We adopted a cat:  a Japanese Bobtail, and I named her Maggie, getting the name from a character in this book I was reading in school. 

I started going to the YMCA’s teen drop-in every Friday. 

I wanted to learn to play guitar, so I asked for a guitar for Christmas, and this Christmas, I did, indeed, get a guitar, and with it a video on how to play chords and I learned them all in no time.  Later Dan McArdle and I got together at his house to jam together with a blues song. 

I joined the school drama club and I was in a play for the Drama Festival called What Cool Is.  I did not have lines, but I had to change places between scenes. 

I met a friend who also liked to play guitar named Jana.  She and I jammed together with our guitars.  We played in the school talent show, playing The Beatles’ Twist and Shout and Nirvana’s About a Girl. 

In no time, this school year was coming to a close.  The prom came up, and we danced to familiar dance and pop hits from the radio station.  The school year finally ended, but the last day was so heartfelt, that I was up all night, sad about leaving Bessborough School after 5 years. 

But the summer was a lot of fun, as we had the same cottage as last time, only this time lots of relatives joined us as Jennifer was about to be married to Brian, and the celebrations were in our house and our cottage, and some of our relatives had their own cottage near that area, and Aunt Betty and Uncle Don’s cottage was the host venue for a treasure hunt as a wedding celebration, plus Jennifer just got a new puppy: a Border Collie named Dillon, and he was playful and fun to be with.  Plus this was my first summer with a guitar, and whenever I watched the guitar instruction video and played along with the instructor Dillon would come down and spend time with me, watching and listening to me play.  The wedding took place at our church, followed by a reception at the Keddy’s Hotel.  We watched movies a lot, and one of them was Angels in the Outfield. 

I was earlier told about a music camp near Bouctouche called Camp Wildwood.  At this point Dillon was still a playful pup.  I went there for a whole week, and there was singing, lots of good meals, 2 pianos:  one on the top floor of the lodge and one on the bottom floor, a tuck shop with all kinds of great treats, campfires with singing, a pool, several cabins, and a musical in the end about a girl named Grace who teaches children to say grace and I played the piano and I was to touch Grace’s forehead to see if she was feeling well during the numbers as part of the play. 

When I got back after a week at camp we went to our house, and Dillon came around the house from the backyard, now full-grown and a changed bark, but I recognized him because he recognized me. 

Weeks later I went back to Camp Wildwood for another week, this time for Basketball Camp.  This time each day we went into Bouctouche to a school called Mgr. Michaud School with a gym for the basketball.  We had the great meals, the tuck shop, campfires, swims in the pool, and a bonus showing of the movie Angels in the Outfield.  I rented an electric guitar with an amp: a Peavey Preditor. 

Saint John New Brunswick Tour Guide: 2014

Hotels connected to shopping and restaurants.

Hotels

For accommodations in Saint John nothing beats the Delta Brunswick, with a pool, a hot tub, a fitness center, flat-screen TVs in each room, connection by pedway to Brunswick Square with 3 levels of shops linked by escalators and elevators including a cool glass elevator, a restaurant with lots of great menu items, and a massive parking garage. 

If you love seafood, try the hotel restaurant’s Fish and Chips.  If you love pancakes, nothing beats a hotel restaurant’s pancakes with fruit and whipped cream and/or syrup.  Rain Man would be impressed with the timing if Charlie Babbitt would order pancakes for them because as Rain Man says, “Maple syrup’s s’posed to be on the table before the pancakes.”

Escaltor

Another great accommodation is the Hilton Saint John.  The rooms have a view of the harbour or the city.  From some rooms, on Wednesday in summer, you can see Saint John Idol from the room.  It is the same thing on Thursdays for Alpine Country Star. 

There is a pool, a fitness centre, flat-screen TVs in each room, luxury suites, and a restaurant with great meals.  There is a pedway link to Market Square, another mall with 2 levels lined by escalators and elevators with a library, a museum with historical and neat artifacts, some stores, a food court, and a nice fountain that gives it a park-like feel.    Again fish and chips are a favorite here among seafood lovers and pancakes with fruit and whipped cream and/or maple syrup is a hit with breakfast lovers. 

Cruise Ships

 In summer cruise ships visit Saint John.  The Cruise Terminals, the Marco Polo, and the brand new Diamond Jubilee, named after Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, are awesome to see, especially when cruise ships are in, because down the escalators at these places come visitors when the ships dock, and up they go when they are about to take off.  These ships are fun to watch too.  At take off time these ships slowly, in the same speed as the alien ships in Independence Day, turn around to prepare for takeoff, blare their loud, low horn, then take off, and you can wave goodbye to these ships’ passengers.  These cruise terminals also host things like charity barbecues, dances, parties, and also conventions for organizations. 

Digby Ferry

Digby Ferry

The Digby Ferry, also known as the Princess of Acadia is another fun thing.  Although pretty soon this boat will be replaced with a new one in a year, this is fun To Do activity.  The Digby Ferry will take off at a certain time, and prior to take off, foot passengers can board, while passengers with vehicles also board.  The sailing will take approximately 3 hours.  During the sailing the vessel’s Sea Breeze Lounge will play a movie on its huge LED flat-screen TV, while the Fundy Grill will serve great cuisine, like Fish and Chips, famous Digby scallops, and famous Digby clams.  On the upper level there is an LED flat-screen TV and a Starbucks coffee shop.  Sometimes if the weather and things are right, during the sailing there are whale-watching opportunities.  After approximately 3 hours this vessel will dock at the Digby terminal.  There is also a gift shop with books and lots of souvenirs.  The best time to come back, if it sails at this time, is at night when it is dark, as the lights of Saint John are beautiful.  

McKim House

McKim House

 L’Arche Saint John, also known as McKim House, is home to residents with and without disabilities.  Visit here and you get a tour, you may get a hot chocolate or tea, and you may be serenaded by someone with music.  That someone is me.  The people in this house travel, celebrate, and have had assistants from all across the globe, including Germany, India, Kenya, the Philippines, and other places. 

L’Arche Saint John, AKA McKim House is not only welcoming, but also has friendly residents, tours, music by residents, and often tours around the neighborhood.  Some residents can play the piano and guitar, some love traveling, some love dogs, cats, and children, and others love to talk about their family and past events.  The house also has a lending library. 

From some rooms or the fire escape you can see the buildings of uptown, cruise ships arriving and leaving, and fireworks for Canada Day and New Year’s Eve.  This house is about to celebrate 50 Years of L’Arche International. 

Martello Tower

Martello Tower

Across from McKim House, just a short walk, is Martello Tower, what CN Tower is to Toronto, Chateau Frontenac is to Quebec City and Cinderella’s Castle is to Disney World Orlando:  skyline domination. You do not have to go into the tower or to the top of the tower if afraid of heights, just walk around, to get a good view of the city.  You can see McKim House, its neighboring church Our Lady Of The Assumption, cruise ships if in or during cruise ship season, The Delta Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Square, Market Square, The Hilton Hotel, The Howard Johnson Hotel (formerly Fort Howe Hotel), The Harbour Bridge, St. Luke’s Church, The Digby Ferry and its terminal, St. Rose Of Lima Church, The Irving Pulp And Paper Mill, The Irving Oil Refinery, and Partridge Island.  There is also a museum with audio narrations in English and French.  Just take the phone receivers, put it to your ear, and press the buttons that read English and French, and a voice will come on the receiver telling you history behind the tower and the figures that made this spectacular attraction such a wonderful historical site.  On Canada Day, tours of the tower and the museum are free. 

O’Leary’s

Nothing beats pub life in Saint John.  Its only Irish pub, O’Leary’s, does not serve lunch or dinner, but hosts concerts by well know artists and on Tuesday evenings, be sure to go there, order a club soda, Pepsi, Ginger Ale, or any kind of beer and a bag of chips, and go to the back area, and listen in as a group of Irish musicians sit in a circle and go around the circle, singing well known Irish tunes and reciting Irish poems and stories.  On St. Patrick’s Week this pub hosts a breakfast to support L’Arche Saint John, so if you are here at this time, purchase a ticket, present it, get a nice breakfast of sausages, hash browns, eggs, bacon, and orange juice, go into the back area, and listen in while you enjoy your breakfast as Irish musicians play and sing well known Irish songs.  Sometimes the main area where you were just served breakfast plays CDs of well known folk tunes like the Great Big Sea albums Play and Up, The Chieftains, and The Irish Descendents.  The main area also has flat-screen TVs tuned to the important sporting events like C.I.S. basketball, CHL, NHL, NBA, soccer, and football. 

Harbour Station

Harbour Station

Harbour Station is THE place to be for things like sporting events.  The well known hockey team - the Saint John Sea Dogs, who were Memorial Cup champions in 2011 and Memorial Cup Runner Up in 2012 - play here.  The city’s first professional basketball team, the Saint John Millrats, formerly from Manchester, also plays here.  In winter 2014 the Ford World Women’s Curling tournament was hosted here and played on TSN.

Sports are not the only things hosted here.  Well known musicians have concerts, like country sensations Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire, and pop sensations Rihanna and Fredericton’s own David Myles.  Musicals come up as well.  In October 2010 this fabulous facility hosted a wonderful musical in which the Saint John Chorale, the Saint John Theatre Club, and the Harbour View chorus, and a well known orchestra, all joined forces to create a wonderful musical, called Marco Polo: The Musical, about the world’s fastest ship (sorry, Pirates of the Caribbean and Jack Sparrow fans, not The Interceptor or The Black Pearl but it was savvy, and, to quote a repeated Commodore Norrington line with my own version, it was, without doubt, the best musical I had ever seen)The Marco Polo, after which our first Cruise Terminal had been named after.  It was wonderful and spectacular.  It outshined The Lion King.  The Saint John Theatre Club also did comedy plays at the nearby Imperial Theatre, like The Importance of Being Earnest. 

An Epic, Fanciful Stay-Cation!

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Enjoying a New Brunswick Stay-Cation

Chapter 1: Monday

Today was Day 1 of Stay-Cation.  Sophia, Silvana, Krista, and Stephane, were in PEI to go camping in tents.  Debbie, Tricia, Gray, Kristina, and I, all went in our brand-new just-won Kia Sedona van with automatic-almost-anything, and went to Rockwood Park to walk and picnic.  Then we went bowling at Bowlarama.  The first string Debbie had 95 as total, I had 87, Kristina had 82, Tricia had 73, and Gray had 70.  Debbie won that one.   And in the 2nd and final string I had 94, Debbie had 93, Kristina had 90, Gray had 78, and Tricia had 73, so I won that game. 

Chapter 2: Tuesday 

            Today Jocelyn, Debbie, Gray, Kristina, Karen (Kristina’s Mother), and I all went to Campobello Island via 2 ferries: one to Deer Island, and one to Campobello Island.  On Campobello Island we picnicked with Karen’s niece who was a Border Patrol officer.  Then we walked to the nearby beach to the picnic table.  We got a tour of Eleanor Roosevelt’s cottage.  I took pictures of these with my Blackberry’s camera app.  Then we had Tea with Eleanor Roosevelt, where we had tea (in my case water) and lemon cookies and gingersnaps as we listened in on a speech on all of Eleanor Roosevelt’s great accomplishments.  Then we got a cookbook on cookies.  Then we went to the beach.  Then we went for a nice scenic drive, stopped at a restaurant where all of us, except Kristina and Debbie, had fish and chips (Kristina had chicken strips and a baked potato and Debbie had a cheeseburger with ketchup and relish and fries).  Debbie was allergic to fish, and Kristina’s eyebrow went up on chicken strips and a baked potato.  Then we headed home by ferry. 

Chapter 3: Wednesday 

            Today Debbie, Kristina, Tricia, Jocelyn, Gray, and I all went to the Kennebecasis Island for some time and supper at Jo’s camp.  On the way we took the Peninsula Princess, then a smaller ferry.  I played the guitar and sang some songs from Frozen, Camp Rock, and The Wave.  We barbecued sweet potatoes, and salmon and pork chops for Debbie who, again, is allergic to fish, and me, who only likes fish if it is fish and chips.  We then had s’mores.  Then we headed home, taking the same 2 ferries. 

Chapter 4: Thursday 

            Today was like living all 4 Free Willy movies, Flipper, and Andre.  Debbie, Stephane, Krista, Kristina, Jocelyn, Sophia, Silvana, Justine, Gray, and I, all went to St. Andrew’s to witness a whale-watching cruise.  It was my first whale watching tour. First we picnicked again, and then we went to a store to buy a rainproof hat for the tour and a St. Andrew’s hat with a whale on it.  We then went to the building, paid for our boarding tickets, and then waited to board a boat.  Then we boarded the ship and within moments it took off as fast as an Air Canada Jazz jet on takeoff mode, so, imitating an airline captain, I told a joke, “Please make sure your seat and tray tables are in their upright, locked positions.”   Within moments we passed where we had taken the ferries to Deer Island on Tuesday en route to Campobello Island, then we came to a little island where a whole bunch of seals and porpoises were playing together, so it would be safe to say we took this trip on porpoise!  Get it?  Then we took off again.  Later we saw some eagles and 2 kinds of seagulls: gray-backed, and black-backed.  We also saw some dolphins.  Then we passed Campobello Island and its ferry.  Later, within moments, we saw a few whales!  I tried to capture it with my Blackberry’s camera app.

Sorry, Free Willy fans, no orcas, no Willy.  After an hour and a half, we turned around.  A tour guide then came with a tank, and in it were a starfish, a baby starfish, urchins, crabs, and other sea creatures.  Later we docked at the wharf from which we had taken off.  Then we headed home and celebrated Jocelyn’s Birthday! 

Whale-Watching off St. Andrew's New Brunswick

Chapter 5: Friday 

            This was the nostalgic day.  Today Silvana, Stephane, Justine, and I took the rental, a Nissan Pathfinder, to Fundy National Park.  The reason this was nostalgic was, back in the day, while I was a child and we lived on Taylor’s Lane, Mom, Dad, Erin, Stephanie, Jennifer, Melody, and I, all, several times, took the Ford van to Fundy Park to go camping, listening to Dirty Dancing, Lionel Richie, The Big Chill, Stand By Me and other memorable music along the way, all three dogs:  Nicky our mongrel, Katie our older Golden Retriever, and Simon our young Golden Retriever, all with us. 

Back to now. 

We hiked in the Caribou trail, or should I say, the Karibu Trail? (Karibu is Justine’s language, Swahili, for “Welcome”).

Hiking the trails in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick. 

 Then we picnicked, and we went to the visitors centre as I remembered, as a kid, this had a series of shops, and I had a question:  Why the direction signs had changed colors from dark desert tan with yellow lettering like some that remained, to dark green with white lettering, and they said the previous color was for Provincial Parks and this was a National Park.  I noticed they had Jennifer’s second book in stock: White Cave Escape.  And I totally forgot to tell the salesperson that the author was my sister.  I had already told the salesperson in the Digby Ferry’s gift shop that the Chocolate River Rescue author was my sister.   Then we took a scenic route to Moncton, and on the way I gave a Harbour Hopper-style narrated tour of Albert County, Hillsborough, Riverview, and all points in between, then we passed Bessborough School and I showed them.  Then we went to my Mom’s house, and we talked over a Pellegrino mixed with orange juice and Greek yogurt.  Then we walked to Jennifer’s house to show them Danny and the house.  We were just about to leave when Jennifer showed up with Brennan and Connor, who all got brand new electric guitars!  So they gave me back my electric.  We headed back up to Mom’s house and a couple expected guests showed up.  Mom prepared supper and we had it here.  Then, using my returned electric guitar, I gave everyone a concert of Catholic hymns and well known old songs.  I played a song written by one of my fellow Key Industries In-Key Choir members, called Passion for Music.  Then we headed back, and I took my stuffed Collie from Universal Florida, which I named Troy, and my black and white stuffed dog, which I had gotten Christmas of Grade 12, which I named Kevin, after Kevin Jonas from Camp Rock. 

So ended Stay-Cation 2014!  Stay tuned for a story of Vacation 2014!  

Same L’Arche Time, Same L’Arche Channel! 

Remembering My School Years

Chapter 1:  Grade 1

   I had just been adopted by the McGrath family, my first family and my first time living in a house with dogs, cats, and a piano, and a family that traveled frequently. 

Pat and Ella

    We went to the bus stop, which was around the corner from the house, and halfway between the house and Sandy McWilliams’ house.  We walked together, Nicky right behind me, and my lunchbox in hand.  Later a school bus pulled up, and Mack, my bus driver, was friendly and funny.  I boarded the bus, which made a few stops and minutes later finally reached Hillsborough School.  When I got into the school, I had never seen so many pianos in a building.  I met a teacher’s assistant who would help me named Mr. Flynn.  I then met my Grade 1 teacher and the students, some of which, I must admit, were not so friendly, but some were.  My grade 1 room and another room, also a grade 1, were connected to each other, and the adjacent room had a piano, which was a whole step flat and twangy.  We started lessons in math, science, social studies, and Phys. Ed.  At the end of the day, we gathered in the adjacent room and the room’s Grade 1 teacher, Mrs. Weldon, got us to sing songs like a choir, the teacher accompanying on us on piano.  We started with O Canada, and moved on to other kids’ nursery rhyme songs. 

     The days that followed were alike.  When we finally had music class, I met the music teacher, Mrs. Schiller, the Mrs. Schiller who was known for directing the famous Hillsborough Choir, which Jennifer and Melody were singing in, which had a record of famous songs.  The music room had a piano, and we sang some songs together, and one of them we sang frequently: the nursery rhyme Fish And Chips And Vinegar.  She had a record we listened to called The Beady Glass Eye.    My speech pathologist Dr. Rubell helped me not only at his office, but also in the school. 

     There was a nerve-racking time when the fire alarm went off after my gym class, and they said I pulled the alarm, when I didn’t.  They must have thought my hands hit the wall running from one side of the gym to the other, and when I turned around, my index finger accidentally pulled the red pull station! 

     One day I went to school…and came home to a surprise:  We had just gotten a brand new piano on the middle floor: a brand new Tadashi with 3 pedals, that looked like the piano in the school music room, except ours was mahogany and the music room piano was black, and a Yamaha with 2 pedals.   We now had 2 pianos: the brand new Tadashi on the middle floor, and the Mason & Risch on the bottom floor. 

     Celebrations, of course, came, and one of them was Thanksgiving, another was Hallowe’en, and another was Christmas, my first Christmas with the McGrath family, and the Grade 1 teacher and our Music teacher all got us to sing some beautiful Christmas carols.  Christmas, of course, came, and we all got some cool gifts, and one of my gifts I got for several Christmases: a small jigsaw puzzle with a picture of a car.   Then came Easter. 

     I should mention this detail that I did not mention in the Adoption Story, which I realize now I should have.  In the Adoption Story, like the Frozen song lyrics go, I Let it go, Let it go.  From my adoption day to half of Grade 1, I used to say silly things that I wonder now if come with autism.  I used to say things like “It’s a Kraft Dinner”,  “It’s a Garbage Bag”, “It’s a Funny/Happy Face”, and other silly things that drove the others crazy at the time, but are fun to look back on and I think about whenever I pull up pictures of the Blessed Hillsborough Years, like me and Mom learning shapes, me sitting next to Nicky, us camping, us traveling, me playing the ukulele, me waiting for Mack, me with the dogs, the Volvo 240 Wagon that picked me up on my adoption day, and me going to my mini toy kitchen in the attic.   Some of the schoolmates were friends and neighbors from our neighbor.  I must mention that sometimes Dad and I would take our red Datsun King Cab truck to the dump and on the way we would sing High Hopes, I Had a Dog, and Swingin’ on a Star.  On the truck’s American Graffiti-style radio with no tape player we would listen to CBC and one of its programs back then was called Swingin’ on a Star.  A famous Dad phrase was: “Thank you, thank you, thank you…so much!”  The Volvo 240 wagon also had an American Graffiti-style radio with no tape player.  I also had fears:  Sometimes Mom would make frozen orange juice, using the blender to mix the water with the orange juice, and it made a loud noise which frightened me.  Whenever we were in a hotel and in a pool, there were water jets underwater, which made a tickling feel when it hit the skin, and I was scared of that.  The vacuum cleaner’s carpet attachment made a loud squealing sound and I was scared of that.  My Dad’s office had photocopiers and the moving light reminded me of space shows my foster brothers used to watch that were scary, and that frightened me, but I overcame this and all the above fears soon. 

     The spring that followed I had an ordeal:  I got a new bike and had I had training wheels, this would have not happened.  I was driving my bike around the house, pretending my bike was the Volvo, which for a time I saw myself driving myself, and the barn was the Co-Op where we went grocery shopping, and apparently I was driving and I suddenly fell over, breaking my collar bone, which was nerve-racking, because I went to the hospital, and I was to get x-rays, and little did I know that x-ray moved and made noises, and I was afraid. 

     The summer that followed was wonderful.  We took our van, which we got before Grade 1: a brown Ford Econoline van, on trips to cities and campsites.  First we went to Halifax and stayed at the Holiday Inn Select hotel, and I enjoyed the pool.  During the drive for this trip we listened to James Taylor, Paul Simon, and the soundtrack to The Big Chill.  For camping trips we went to Fundy Park and Cabot Park in P.E.I.  in our van all of us, and all 3 of our dogs (When I started Grade 2, we had 2 dogs:  a Lassie sable mongrel named Nicky and a dark red Golden Retriever named Katie.  Later that year we got a Golden Retriever puppy named Simon on one of our Sunday road trips.)   During the camping trips we listened to Dirty Dancing, Lionel Richie and The Chieftains.  There was a time we drove to Boston to stay at a hotel with a pool and glass elevator through which you can see a piano, to enjoy things like subways, shopping, and lots of fun things.  We also had Barbecues and roasted marshmallows in the backyard. 

....  Coming soon: Grade 2!