Chapter 25
New Beginnings

In early January 1972 I was obliged to have minor surgery in Regina General Hospital. It was difficult to find anyone to come to do chores. The local people all had plenty to do. I asked our "brother-in-law" Peter Trueman to come from White Rock, to do chores and look after the place while I was away. He came a few days before I left home, in time to get accustomed to the daily work to be done and he stayed until I was able to get out and handle the chores along with Michael's help. In the spring of 1972 Charles and Robert came home and put in the crop. I had bought a used John Deere 80 tractor which we had to get used to. Robert drove the John Deere and did the cultivating. Charlie did the seeding with the Massey 44 and 28 run McCormick drill. I was very glad of their help and I believe they enjoyed doing something like that completely on their own. Actually I didn't feel capable of doing it myself. After the crop was seeded Charles went to Toronto to do accounting and was to stay there seven years. Robert finished his college course and went to work at different jobs mostly trying to find something he enjoyed working at. Jobs were not scarce at the time and he was seldom out of work.

In duly 1972 I met Zellie Inkster who was a widow and working in Saskatoon. We formed what we thought was a good enough relationship that we decided to marry in November 1972. We carried on farming until 1979 but had many problems during our years together. We grew a garden, crops were fair to good and I still had about 30 head of cattle. We made many trips to Regina to visit her daughter and son-in-law, also to Moose Jaw to visit her invalid son.

One October (1976 think) we drove to Prince George as I had three nephews and a niece living there, Zellie had a daughter living there. Her son Ian returned with us and worked in Radville and also in Weyburn, later going to Govan to work. Her son-in-law, Gordon Braun and wife Jean and two small daughters had moved there to manage the Co-op store.

In 1975 I was fortunate to be able to go to Toronto and attend the Royal Fair for a day with Charlie and his wife, Fadiah. I also visited two of Zellie's sisters and families, one couple drove to Niagara where we toured the town and had a close look at Niagara Falls. Attending the Royal Fair had been a life long ambition of mine. There were no chores at home as the cattle were all running loose on stubble. Basil Houim was very kind and offered to see to them everyday and would notice if there were any problems. We bought a new car, a 1975 Chevrolet Nova four door. Zellie allowed her Volkswagen to be used as a trade in. The Nova served us for two years but there were things about it I didn't like. It wasn't that good in snow as it had a narrow wheel base. One time we went to visit a cousin of Zellie's at Rockglen and drove home in a storm after dark. It was an awful experience, one that I don't want to repeat. The next fall, 1977, we bought a Ford Gran Torino. It has over 100,000 miles on it and is now beginning to show the signs of wear.

In the fall of 1977 sister Lillian asked if I would go with her to Illinois. We would go in October so chores wouldn't be a problem. Lillian had been widowed in January 1973 and had moved to Naicam so as to not be alone in the winter on the farm. Zellie took us to North Portal where we traveled by small bus to Minot and by air via Grand Forks to Minneapolis. We changed planes after a five hour wait and arrived in Moline, Illinois about 9:00 p.m. Glen and Beulah, also Melvin and Marion met us and we were home at their house by 11:00 p.m. We enjoyed the visit and returned home in the early part of November. Zellie and Doris Englund met us at North Portal.

Lillian passed away the following January, 1978. We drove up by car to attend the funeral. It was real winter weather and there was a bit of snow. I was glad that Lillian and I had made that trip as she was quite eager to go. That same year, 1977, Zellie and I traveled by bus to White Rock, BC and onto Tacoma, Washington to spend Christmas with John and Nellie Campbell. We had stopped briefly at Pearl and Peter Truman's. The day after Christmas John and Nellie took us down to Vancouver, Washington to visit and have fresh caught salmon dinner with Nellie's daughter Sylvia and Jim Kothe and family. From there we went on into Portland, Oregon to spend the night with Elmer and Jesse Rederberg. Then we returned to White Rock for a day going up to Prince George to visit our respective relatives. It was the 3rd of January when we arrived home. What a pleasure it is to have friendly neighbors like Basil Holum who are willing to take on choring responsibilities, even in the winter.

One item I should have mentioned, on coming home from Nalcam following Lillian's funeral in 1978 was that it was cold, -20 F. when we left Naicam. We left early so as to be home before dark and we were lucky we did. The minute I opened the door I knew something was wrong. The house was cold. Paul Young had been there in the morning and all was OK. During the day the ignition coil on the furnace had failed and there was no heat. The kitchen sink tap dripped a little and there was an icicle in the sink. The Philodendron that covered the north wall in the front room was drooping. I went to town to get Aibin Meyers to come and test to find the problem and then called Paul to ask where he thought I could get service at that time of day. By this time it was 6:00 p.m. Paul came right down and phoned an electrical supply company in Weyburn that he knew really well. They would send a man down to the shop to meet me as soon I could get to Weyburn. Paul had brought along an electric heater, it was placed under the kitchen sink to warm things up. We had a heater that was used in the bathroom and luckily no pipes burst. Paul reassembled the needed parts and we were back in business. How thankful one is when needed help is offered at such a critical time. It certainly was not a human error, just one of those mechanical items that fail at an inopportune time.