My Father's family arrived in Canada via steamship from England in 1911.  My Scotch Grandmother was six months pregnant with my Dad.  In tow were two small lads, Grandma's mother, and my Grandfather. With my Grandfather being an ex-Royal Navy man (HMS Tamar), I often wondered why they didn't wait to sail on the majestic, unsinkable Titanic a year later in 1912.  Grandma's mother often chided her that she was just "too bloody cheap", suggesting that she took the opportunity to make the passage while pregnant with my father to save paying an additional fare for him.

My father's dad raised champion Spaniels and sailed the Great Lakes aboard the "lakers".  After a night of drinking with his favorite drinking buddy, a doctor no less, my grandpa died from self-induced poisoning.  He figured my grandma had stashed his whiskey in an old brown Lysol bottle and drank it.   She called Doc when she realized something was wrong and his response was "ah just let him sleep it off."  He never woke from this sleep leaving behind a wife and four boys. 

To help his Mother and brothers, Dad went out on the "lakers" at the age of 16 aboard the New York News and the Chicago Tribune shoveling coal to provide power to run the big ships that plied the Great Lakes.  We lived in St. Catharines, Ontario where the Welland Canal joins Lake Ontario with Lake Erie, essentially carrying boats over Niagara Falls (Niagara Escarpment).  The ships ascend or descend 280 feet via eight locks between the lakes.  Shipping was a way of life for many people in our community.

After Dad met my Mother, it was he who introduced Mom to her own Father. Her dad had left his family when Mom was an infant and his whereabouts were unknown. My Mother had always assumed her father was dead.  Dad realized that a shipmate had the same last name as my Mother as well as a familial resemblance. Through his curiosity my Dad discovered this man was indeed my Mother's father. 

Dad grew up always proud of what he had done and of what he was doing.  He had a great sense of humor, pride, love of life, and a thirst for knowledge that wouldn't quit. He had mastered woodworking skills, home repairs and remodeling, and taking the car's engine apart to clean it.  He left the ships to be home with our family and turned to trucking. Eventually, he went with the CNR railroad for twenty years shuttling local freight between the paper mills, General Motors, and the fruit farms throughout southern Ontario.  As a youngster, I spent many of my summer days riding along on the train after delivering lunch to Dad.  My love of trains is still strong to this day.

My brother and I were very fortunate growing up with two wonderful parents. 

As I reflect on my Dad's upbringing, it is remarkable that here was a man who had no good role models in his own life but mastered being a great Dad himself.  My dad instilled in us a great work ethic, honesty, and love of nature, strong family ties, and fun.  Our lives were full of "free" things.  We had a perpetual ice rink in our back yard for the duration of the winter.  Dad monitored it in such a way that everyone had fun.  Little kids had priority immediately after school and would then relinquish their rights to the older kids and a couple of rough games of hockey.  The evenings were reserved for the adults and Dad thought it was great having the old RCA radio hooked up outside to supply skating music.

The summers were filled with outings, picnics and evenings at the beach (Lake Ontario) four miles away.  The beach was a great place to simonize the old '39 Plymouth, which was his pride and joy.  The neighbors would round up the kids and we would head to the beach.  We had lots of fun swimming, etc. and when darkness fell, we toasted Marshmallows by a campfire.  The kids would fall asleep under the stars and the adults took to "talking stupid" until the wee hours of the morning. 

Sundays were always reserved for a ride in the country or visiting family and friends.  We had two good-sized families and everything was celebrated together.  My dad's side would get a little hectic as the boys were always playing tricks on their mother and all of the grandkids would contribute in some way.

Even though dad's formal years of education were lacking, he always strived to better himself.  He was an avid reader, always listened to the radio and loved to talk to people in all walks of life.  We would tease him about his pronunciation of words but it didn't faze him.  For example, he was talking at the dinner table about the "jew di cal" system.  We teased him re the pronunciation of judicial.  His response was "what's the problem--you knew what I was talking about" as he carried on.

I don't ever remember my dad being angry and I was fortunate that he loved my mother dearly.  Nor do I remember my parents ever fighting.  That was terrific but, as a therapist once told me, I lacked confrontation skills because of it.  That's ok though--I had a childhood that I am so thankful for and wouldn't trade for the world and my memories are priceless.

My parents moved to Ft. Lauderdale Florida (after several vacations compliments of CNR railroad passes) and had a very happy and fulfilling life until they passed away--dad in '86 and mom in 2002 and brother in 2003.  He related to my husband Jeff just what a lucky man he was, as he had done everything in life that he had ever wanted to do.  I miss them terribly and when they died, part of me died too.

My dad left me with an important legacy.  He became friends with Ray Kroc (founder of McDonalds), a friendship that was initiated by my Father who was employed to clean Mr. Kroc's carpets.  Mr. Kroc always invited Dad to eat and to sit with him for sometimes lengthy chats -  a habit that used to drive his co-worker (my brother) crazy.   After his many visits at Mr. Kroc's home in Fort Lauderdale (complete with Golden Arches flag), dad would come home with many stories about their conversations, celebrities basking in the sun by the pool, etc.  I asked dad one time "Dad don't you feel inferior to Ray?"  He quickly responded with "Hell No, he's no better than I am-he just had better opportunities. Besides, I've always been satisfied that I have received anything and everything I've ever wanted or needed. Life is good!"  His response didn't do much for me at the time, but as I grew older, I realized just how wise and what a great man my dad was.  This Man is MY HERO.