Our Wanderings: Mum

My brother Hal has sent, along with the many other great old photos, these pictures of Mum. Having been wondering what I might do to share some memories of her I decided to post some of them here with a little commentary. These aren't in any particular order and as I find time and pictures I will be placing more on this section of the blog.

The above picture was probably taken in the 30’s.

This little house was built by Dad on land owned by Mum’s father, Arthur Sherwood. Interestingly the house still stands and though it has been added to, is still recognizable. Just visible over the roof is the roof peak of phase two of the house. Mum lived in this house with Hal while Dad was overseas serving in WW I

Growing up I heard several stories about how much Mum loved to ride horses. It was however, also a very practical aspect of her life. Horses were simply a way of live during the time she was growing up… transportation, hauling loads and for fun. Apparently she was an accomplished “barrel racer”.

Seeing these old pictures of Mum gives me a perspective of her life that I never had while growing up. I guess as a child I assumed she had always been the woman I knew. It is great to see her in the vitality of younger years.

Following WW2 Dad took a course in Calgary to learn dry cleaning. When Mum, Hal and Dad came back to Cardston they lived in the basement of Grandpa and Grandma Sherwood's home (built while Dad was overseas, on the other side of town from the first house Dad built on Grandpa's land) for a while. Following his course, he and a group of businessmen in Cardston; Syd Swan, Bob Tagg, and an electrician whose name I don't have and Dad built a business block, pictured above the house directly above, across from the curch and town hall. Mum, Hal and Dad lived above the dry cleaning plant but the fumes from the dry cleaning business were hard on Dad so he built the house pictured above on the east hill. We; Hal, Iva, Ruth and I lived there immediately before moving to BC. Mum stayed there with us younger kids while Dad and Hal went to BC with Uncle Dee to find work and a place to live.

Following are pictures of Mum, some with Dad and or with some of us kids.

This Christmas 1959 picture is of Mum, Ruth, Iva, me and Hope. Hope is holding our dog Pesty. If I remember correctly Pesty started out with a different name but Mum found it to be a pest so kept calling it Pesty. The name stuck. Below, also during Christmas of 59 is Mum by the fridge that I remember so well. The hanger over her head is where she would hang clothes after ironing them and before taking them to closets.

As kids we all enjoyed out back yard and from time to time we would see Mum and Dad sitting back there studying the scriptures or reading a good book. I'm not sure if Dad is sleeping here to having a chat with Mum about what they were reading. I rember those chairs and re-netting the one Mum is sitting in after the old netting broke. In those days things were fixed not disposed of and replaced with new.

Prior to WW2 Dad and Mum depended on horses for much of their transportation but after bicyles were a major part of getting around. here is Dad and Mum with their bikes.

Above is a pictues of Mum with her brother, my Uncle Dee Sherwood. To the left is Dad and Mum.

This is a picture of Dad looking over Mum's shoulder at the 2 week old Hal jsut before he shipped off to England to begin four years of service in World War II. It must have been difficult for both of them to be apart that long. Hal was four years old before Dad saw him again. I am so very thankful that I have never had to leave my family to go to war.