Oh yah, it’s Halloween

Six-thirty am this morning, I was standing on the subway platform waiting for the next train. Watching CP24, I heard an announcer refer to today being Halloween. I stood there and thought “Oh yeah, it’s Halloween.” I then felt old. I would never have forgotten this when I was ‘younger.’

As children, we of course looked forward to Halloween. Because we lived in the country, our Mom always drove us around, which I am sure was not much fun for her. We didn’t go to a lot of houses – just neighbours and relatives. I remember it always being cold and always being tired when it was all said and done. We went as far as Cable Head to our great Aunts and Uncles. Margaret Reggie always had a pan of homemade squares in the pantry – and if you were a relative, you got one. And they were *always* so good.

One year Peter and I dressed up as a nurse and a doctor. At age 11, I fit into Hilda’s nurses uniform. Good grief. Her shoes fit me too. Another year, Peter allowed us to dress him up as a woman – wig, make-up, purse – the whole shebang. And he really hammed it up. I can still remember how hard Toddy Ryan laughed.

The last time I dressed up was when I was at Acadia. I recall going to a party at Ian’s home, rooting through a bunch of junk from Frenchys and settling on a celery green Moroccan gown that had gold beading. I wrapped a towel around my head to represent a turban and we headed to the Axe. Looking back, I am not sure there was anything Moroccan about the gown – and wrapping a towel around my head to represent a turban was, I am thinking, not so politically correct. One can only get away with such antics in da Valley.

It was fun to see all the little people out this evening in their costumes. May their trick or treating be done safely.

I’ll leave you with a mighty ‘Har Har Har and a bottle of rum’

 

PS: (I’m on the left – and supposed to be a pirate – I think).

45

In 1967, Canada hosted an International and Universal Exposition in Montreal. It was Canada’s main celebration during the county’s centennial year. It was also the year my parents were married, on August 12^th, at St. Alexis Roman Catholic Church in Rollo Bay, PEI.

This year marked Mom and Dad’s 45^th wedding anniversary. This realization began with Peter asking David “How old are you this year?” (Answer = 44). Much to David’s horror, Mom once joking referred to David once as her “centennial project.” The boys, Karen and I decided to have a party to celebrate. One might think it would be more suitable to have such a gathering for a fiftieth celebration. But with Dad’s health scare earlier this year, combined with the fact that we enjoy having family gatherings every summer, well, we decided to go for it.

In consultation with Mom and Dad, we developed a guest list. We decided against having the party a surprise and felt instead, it was important to consult with Mom and Dad on all our ideas. After subtracting and then adding to the guest list, the final count was fifty people plus – with the majority being just family. It was fortunate that all of our first cousins on Dad’s side were home for our Rossiter Family Reunion (which took place the day after the anniversary party). Here are the invitations I had made for the party:

David and Karen offered to host the event. Having recently built an enormous deck onto the back of their home, it was the perfect location to have the party. David and Karen took care of the menu, purchased all the food and did all of the cooking – no small feat – but one that they booth seem to enjoy. Trying to contribute as much as possible, I agreed to pick up all the plates, napkins, cutlery, etc...The theme for a 45^th anniversary is sapphire so I suggested a blue theme. I also contacted a local woman to have a custom cake made. Although it didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped (yes, I am *too* fussy), everyone seemed pleased. I did like the shamrock details on the cake, which I asked to be similar to the detailing on Belleek China.  

All in all it was a wonderful party. We were so pleased with the turnout. All of our parent’s siblings came as well as almost all our first cousins. All of our neighbors, friends and extended family that were invited came. It was wonderful to see everyone and my only regret is that I didn’t take more photos. But here are a few we did take:

 

 

 

Later that week, I sat down with Mom and went through all their wedding photographs. I had seen them before of course, but I wanted to sit down with Mom and have her share her memories connected with each photograph. It had the potential to be sentimental but I was of course laughing hysterically five minutes into our stroll down memory lane.

We looked at Mom’s wedding book and her one-liner comments came fast and furious. She commented on everything – from her penmanship, to her crooked tiara, to how much taller she was then her father who walked her down the aisle. Everything seemed to strike us funny....until we came to the guest portion of the book. Looking at the signatures of guests in attendance, we were surprised to realize how many people have since passed. This of course applied to the wedding party as well. Mom’s sister Josie and Dad’s brother DeDe, both now dead, signed the book at the very top of the page:

I also came across the speech that Dad made at their wedding reception, Which Mom says that Jimmie MacAulay helped him write. It was touching to read. In it he thanked Auntie, Harold and Joe, and referenced his parents who had been long since deceased. Mom said that apparently his speech had Josie bawling....then again, it was always said that Josie’s bladder was behind her eyes.

I love that my parent’s wedding photos are in black and white – they are timeless. And I think my Mom looked so beautiful – even though she hates her wedding dress to this day. It was August and it was hot – long sleeves and lace fabric were simply not a good mix. So much so that she itches to this day when she sees any clothing made out of lace.  But I think she looked radiant – and still does to this day.



41

I am not one to celebrate my birthday. I like having cake with my family when I am home but it ends there. Last year I turned 40. As it was a big milestone birthday, I decided to embrace it and make it memorable. I did this by celebrating it in Ireland with my special somebody. So this year, I was very ambivalent about my birthday. Mom mentioned that we would celebrate when I was to go home in August and that was just fine with me.  My friend Dee, however, insisted that we do something so I consented to a Greek dinner on the Danforth.

The day before my birthday, however, I got my first surprise when my brother Peter delivered flowers and a birthday balloon to me at work. I was so touched. It was quite the adventure getting this home via public transit and I was touched at how many people – bus drivers and strangers - commented and gave me birthday wishes along the way.

My birthday fell on a Friday this year and I happened to have that day off. I of course slept in and then meandered down to the Danforth to walk around and do some window shopping before meeting Dee at our scheduled time. I treated myself to a pedicure and by the time supper rolled around, I was incredibly hungry – rather I was ravenous. I hadn’t eaten much all day to save room for our Greek feast, but I hadn’t eaten enough – so much so that I started to get a headache. I met Dee at the cafe. We were to meet at the cafe and go directly to Astoria. To my surprise, Dee was sipping on a cold drink and seemed to want to sit and chat. I don’t recall saying it but apparently after fifteen minutes, I said “Can we just go and eat?” he he.

When we walked into Astoria, I was surprised to see our friend Adam waiting. That was the first surprise of the evening. We sat down to eat and were into our dinners when I got my second surprise. Someone with a moustache came from behind and kissed me on the cheek. I turned around and much to my surprise there was Brian. My former Manager and now my dear friend, Brian had driven two hours to celebrate my birthday. I could not believe it and was so taken off guard. It was then that Dee told me that she had been trying to stall while in the cafe earlier to give Brian time to get here!

Just when I thought that was it, Doug and Patty Baldwin appeared shortly after that out of nowhere with a large box. I remember shaking my head and thinking “What next?” In the box was a birthday cake from my friend Laura (who is a friend of the Baldwins as well) in Nova Scotia. On the cake was an edible photo of her son Thomas with his beloved blankie that I had made for his older brother Daniel when he was born – that Thomas ultimately made claim to.   

I couldn’t believe it. In such a short period of time all of these various people from corners of my life intersected to celebrate my birthday with me. It was a wonderful surprise. Being the introvert that I am, I find it difficult when any kind of attention is focused on me. Needless to say, I found it a little overwhelming. Then the story came out as to how the evening came together, which came to be called “operation Rossiter.” Doug called “Adam” (he couldn’t remember his last name) at the Archives to find out where I would be on my birthday so he could deliver the birthday cake for Laura. Adam asked Dee and found out we were having dinner together. Dee suggested Adam come – and then Brian emailed Dee and asked to par take as well. And to think I almost put the kibosh on it all when the day before I asked Dee “Do you still want to meet me for dinner? Won’t you be tired after work? I’ll understand if you just want to go home instead.” He he.

A few weeks later, I was home and Mom also wanted to celebrate my birthday. To do so, she invited our Cronin relatives for supper and birthday cake. Cheryl and David meet us for lunch in St. Peters. They came to farm, had supper with us and stayed till late that night. David, Karen, and our cousin Cathy also joined us for supper. We had a wonderful afternoon going through old family photographs that belonged to Cheryl’s grandmother Laura. Mom cooked a lovely home cooked meal for all us and we had birthday cake from the IGA in Souris – my favourite! It was such a lovely family oriented celebration.

Just when I thought all the surprises were over, Mom completely blew me away with two gifts. The first was a green Depression glass decorative bowl as I’ve started collecting green Depression glass. The second came in a very small box. When I saw it, I jokingly said “Oh, what’s this - my diamond?” I opened it and was 100% shocked out of my mind to find inside a pair of diamond stud earrings. My mom remembered me saying once that I’d love to have diamond studs. But never did I think that would *ever* happen. I was completely blown away and so very touched. And for one last surprise, Mom said “Dee knows about it – we discussed it via Facebook.” He he.

I now like surprises.