A force of nature…not a cliché, but the
truth. Since I was very young, my grandmother has been just that to me, and to
all who knew her well. Not a blustering wind, or a rushing rain storm, but a
calm breeze or a quite glen in the woods. She never raised her voice, never got
overly excited, but her strong hands were attuned to the places she grew up.
Born and raised in the middle of Bras d’Or lake and never living far from its
shores for all her 96 years, she was apart of the place. She was gentle and
calm, always telling us to “leave those poor beasts alone” when we removed a
hornets nest, or shoo a ferret or mouse from the house. She was as close a person I have ever know to
mother nature. Not that she communed with nature like a hippy, but she
appreciated and coveted being exposed to the wonders and hardships of nature. She
loved nothing more than the simple pleasures of a walk down the road or a swim
in the lake.
She raised a family on the shore of the
lake and helped raise all of us grandchildren too. She spoiled us, but not too
much, and indulged us but also kept a close eye. During my sister’s sicknesses
as I grew up, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother in West Bay, and
despite my fear of the deep dark and her illusive cat Dusty, I looked forward
to my stays with her. She always made sure she had a fresh batch of my favorite
treat, cinnamon buns, ready when I arrived. We would go into town and buy fresh
mackerel and other things and have great meals in her kitchen. She had fishing
rods on hand so I could drop a line in the brook or the lake…though I never
caught anything.
In her later years she lost the ability to
go for a walk or swim in her beloved lake, but in her moments of clarity, her
stories were always about the lake and the adventure that it was to live on an
island in the middle of a lake.
While she was raising 5 sons and a
daughter, she worked at the lumber camps feeding the workers, and boarded more
workers and fed them at the house. Then in another phase of her life, she
became one of the longest serving mail workers in Nova Scotia. She was proud of
the fact that she trained many mail workers and took pride in the important
service of delivering the mail. The house in West Bay housed the mail office
through the 70s and 80s, and as happens became one of the hubs of the community.
My grandmother did enjoy retirement, going
to Florida for the winter for serveral years and becoming a regular at card
plays around the county. As she began to fail and was not able to drive, she
still walked several miles a day and easily climbed the hill to her daughters
house. In later years, when she could not walk to the lake or even swim in the
lake any longer, her favorite activity was to go for a drive along the lake
shore. Her main perch in the house over the years overlooked her lake. Even
after 90+ years living near it, she always marveled at the beauty of a sunset
on the lake, or at some bird on the lake.
I had the luck to spend a fair bit of time
with my grandmother during the formative years of my life and in hindsight, I
can see that she helped form the man I have become. Everytime I see a sunset,
or wonder at some landscape I see as I travel the globe for my job, I am
channeling the wonder and respect for nature that she taught me. I am told I
have an easy nature and an ability to put people at ease; this comes from both
my father and mother; but I saw the power of an even keel from my grandmother
too. An even keel that can gain speed and ram you if you got out of line. Her
dry humor and quick wit when critiquing someone are legendary, and I like to
think I carry some of that charm. Only a few months ago, when one of the
homecare workers asked me about my kids, Grammy quickly commented “You don’t
have any goats do your Mark?”, her years teaching her brothers and sisters on
the island showing through. I didn’t think she was listening, and could not
help my laugh.
Growing up in rural Nova Scotia on the
shores of this lake formed a granite back bone in this force of nature, and we
can all attest to the toughness of our grandmother. Losing a husband, losing 2
sons, a shattered arm, and countless other set backs could not slow her. Even
when her body started to fail her, she pushed on longer than others would have
had the fortitude to do so. She comes from hardy stock and the hardships of
lake living only tempered that stock and made it seemingly indestructible.
I will miss my grandmother, but it was her
time. She lived all the life she was given, but it is time she had a rest. I
take solace in the idea that she is now at peace and watching over us all. This
place, this lake, will always resonate with her presence.
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