My memories of my Uncles and Aunts.

My mind races back to those days when I was a little boy. The trips which our family took to Maryfield, Saskatchewan, during our summer holidays were very eventful. Maryfield was where our family always stopped in on our holidays as we visited my mother's grandparents.

My uncle lived just outside of Maryfield, Saskatchewan, on a farm. I remember that my other uncle lived across the road on another farm. During the years before 1977, we always stayed at Uncle Allan's farmhouse, and we all visited our Great Grandparents who lived in a barn-shaped house. This house was located on the Mainstreet in Maryfield. One of my farmhouse memories was when Uncle Allan pretended to lock all of the house's doors. I was very fearful of someone slipping into the house during the night. However, he tried to convince me that I was safe and that nothing could ever harm me. I, of course, being OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), double-checked the doors to find them all still unlocked.

To add to the background of this village, I will explain some of the history and location of this place. This village lies south of Highway 48 and Highway 600 and is around 8 km west of the Manitoba border. The post office was founded in 1896, and it became a village in 1907. The population of the village was 348 people.

The railroad is why this village sprung up. The village has a post office, community school K-12, seniors and social housing, seniors Harmony center, Renowned steak pit- Arlington Hotel, Corner store, places of worship including the United Church and The Associated Gospel church, clothing Boutique, SGI certified auto-body shop, community facilities, theatre, rinks, gym, library, Emergency services including- Fire department and ambulance, Quality water, natural gas, sewer and garbage services and finally high-speed internet. This place was where we came to visit, which was so incredible. This was the perfect vacation spot for any family to visit.

My memories of Uncle Allan, which are clear in my memory. I remember how he was a very tall man who liked to walk outside on his bare feet. He walked so very carefully in his garden, which he loved to work in day after day. He had such grace as he spoke with such graceful words, which I listened to for hours. I loved his stories of when he was a child and the fun he had running in his bare feet in the tall grass. The large yard around the farmhouse was so huge. I was able to run around the huge area where the farm machinery used to be stored. I saw the crab apple tree, which was in the middle of the farmyard. I used to be able to pick a bucket of apples from that tree. Years later, after Uncle Allan sold his house to his nephew and wife, I still had it in my head that the place still belonged to Uncle Allan. As an OCD person (obsessive-compulsive disorder), I found it hard to accept changes that happened in my little world. The rest of my family did not have too much effort to accept the new changes to the farmhouse. In fact, my father found it rather hard to understand why his son would act in what he called strange ways. However, these reactions were very common to me over all of my growing up years.

My Uncle seemed to understand me, which really did help ease my stress. First, I remember when I spent with Uncle in his garden, located at his farm. Then, I remember walking across the road to his brother's place, where we had supper at Uncle Alfred and Aunt Berniece's. His brother, Alfred and his wife Berniece moved to Sunrise Villa which is located in Maryfield. The game of "Red rover, red rover, calling Lorne over"-does comes to my mind. I also do remember a game of baseball that was played among a lot of the relatives, which really seemed to be very fun. These activities were a little different than the reading sessions, which we as a family did during the school year at our place. After the house was torn down and the two of them moved into Maryfield really made the place look so very different. I did find this change to be very hard to take. One of his sons, Raymond and his wife Bev bought Uncle Allan's farmhouse. At first, the couple moved their trailer onto the area where the farm machinery used to be stored. This was after Uncle Allan had moved into the village of Maryfield. Then after that, the couple had moved into the farmhouse where Uncle Allan had lived for many years.

I do remember one day when my mother was chatting with Bev, I sat there and listened to the conversation. I was reminded later that I was supposed to leave and not listen to other people's conversations. I did end up wandering all by myself where no one would be bothered by my presence.

There was this one year when our uncle had a massive storm that went through that area. Uncle Allen shared his story of having a steak for supper that evening when this huge twister went through. His kitchen window broke, and the glass went onto his steak, which was a huge waste of meat. The rest of the family only smiled and let our uncle share his story. I really did love a good story because these stories kept my imagination going overtime for hours as I was by myself for hours.

After 1977 when Uncle Allan moved into the house, which was built in a shape of a barn, where our Great Grandparents used to live in while they were alive. I do remember this house so very well. There was the sitting room where Great Grandpa sat in for hours drinking his very steeped strong tea while looking out of the front windows at the traffic. I do remember this one year when I found an old record player with a lot of records. I sure spent a lot of hours playing these old albums which entertained me for many hours at a time. Then, I was able to borrow my uncle's bike to ride all around the village of Maryfield. I do remember this old church which had been turned into a museum. I spent hours looking at the pieces of history which they had on display which entertained me for hours.

Then there was our family experience of attending the church services at Maryfield's Associated Gospel Church. It is very interesting to note that Uncle Allan was a member of the United Church which was also located in Maryfield. There was this one day, after the church service, I really did not feel very much like being around people who were around me. So, I went back to the car where I had a nap in the back seat of the car.

There were trips out to visit Aunt Flora and Uncle Howard's farm for supper. Aunt Flora was our grandmother's sister who was married to Howard. There were horses, cows and grain farming on that farm. Aunt Flora had this very cool playhouse where we used to play every summer. I do remember the time when this playhouse was infested with bugs to the point where it was not wise for us kids to play in this place. As an OCD child, change was never taken very well for me personally. I remember riding in the car with my family back to the farmhouse where uncle Allan used to live in. I looked around realizing that my father was so sure of himself that he never used a map in order to find the right roads back to our uncle's place. It was then when I decided that I would be that good at finding addresses. Maybe that was why later in life I became a taxi driver?

The memories which I had of this wonderful man are many. I do remember one weekend which happened while I was an adult when my parents dropped me off at Uncle Allan's place for a week. I remember eating at the Hotel which was located across the street from where the barn-shaped house was located. I also remember seeing the general store where one could shop for everything from food to hardware goods. As I walked around the village, memories of the village's fair would flood into my mind. I remember the times when I rode his old bike all around the village. The bagpipes were played as the girls and my mother looked at the goods which the aunts all had on display at the display show. The pig scramble was also a huge hit which I was the only one who picked the largest pig and pulled it successfully across the line. All the normal people would drop their pigs and run away as soon as the first three people crossed the finish line. Hard work and keeping goals were always important to me while the rest of the world only did what they had to as long as they were rewarded for their efforts. As an OCD person, I was very different and I still operate like this to this very day.

I remember the day when I received the phone call in 2004 about his passing. My father told me in his very straightforward style that he was sure that I was not going to make it to his funeral so he did not bother telling me at the time when he passed away. My mother had just passed away that January which was one of the hardest events which I had to face up to that point. I never got to say goodbye to him which was something that really has bothered me for many years. My Dad told me that the funeral was nice and that he really enjoyed being there. I am sure my older brother Peter was in attendance with him. I was not able to make a decision to go or not was which really did hurt me to the very core of my being.

He was around 81 years old which was better than the young age my mother was when she passed away. I just shared some of my memories of this man and I do have many more which are too private for me to share with anyone from the public. He was an influence that changed me for the rest of my life. He will always be my favourite Uncle. I will never forget him for as long as I have breath in my lungs.