The Parents and other stuff

We lived in a rural community and by "rural" I mean in the middle of nowhere and by "community" I mean if you could see a house from our house you could technically call them a neighbor.

Our closest neighbor was only a hop, skip and jump away. It's a good thing we liked them and got along just fine. The house nextdoor belonged to my grandparents. The two of them lived there with my grandmothers' sister. If they hadn't been really old people it might have been the cause of some interesting rumors. Their house and our house was built on the same chunk of property, a 113 acre farm. Just for the record, that's one heck of a backyard!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...we lived in Southern Ontario. (Just for the record, my parents still live in the same place and although my grandparents have both passed on, my great aunt still lives in their house).

So, what did they do? Well, I'm glad you asked. My dad was a school teacher for many years and long since retired. He taught at the same school that I went to for 13 years and then went to two other schools after that. He changed schools the same time that I would have been in his class. He claims he didn't want to take the chance of having me in his class(es) because he felt he would be harder on me. I think he was ready for a change anyway. It kind of bummed me out because I thought it would be cool to have my dad also be my teacher, but maybe he was right in leaving. I did have him for ONE class though before he left. When I was in the sixth grade art was handled by rotating the class you were in every so many weeks. What that meant was that part of the year you were in the pottery class, then maybe the string art class and the decoupage class etc. Each of these classes was taught by a different teacher. My dad taught the string art class. It also happens to be the ONLY detention I ever got!

Apparently I had forgotten that the class was that day and had left my materials for the class at home. When I got to the class dad asked me where my stuff was and I said I had forgotten it. He obviously didn't see this situation the same as I did. It was my opinion that HE knew the class was that day and should have reminded me to take my stuff. His opinion was that I was old enough to keep track of my own crap and sorry about my luck. Here's a dictionary and a piece of paper and a pen. Start copying! Maybe it IS a good thing he left before I got to the 7th grade :)

My mother was mostly stay at home mom. She had her hands in numerous projects but wasn't OFFICIALLY employed. I think what sticks with me the most was her volunteer work. She ran a 4H club for quite a while and also coached cheerleading at the school. Now, don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that I was excited about the fact that she volunteered, I was excited about WHAT she was doing. The 4H group was all about cooking. There was only a certain type of person that kind of group attracted ... WOMEN!
Okay, I know they were KIDS, but I was enough younger than they were that they might as well have been adults ... after all they were mostly developed!! And, in my opinion, they were ALL hot! It was perfect. They came to MY house for the club meeting. I could sit around and just WATCH them AND I was young enough they oooo'd and ahhhh'd over me! Sweet !!!!
And, like I said if that wasn't enough ... I also got to watch all the good looking girls at cheerleading practice bounce around in their skimpy skirts ... wow, what memories ... for that, mother, I thank you!!!!

To my parents: You have been wonderful, loving and caring people my entire life. For all you have done for me ... I thank you! Words can not say enough how much I care for you and love you!

Next: The Elementary School Years