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| Mervin at 8 months Today is my brother Merv's birthday. I was three and a half when he was born and his arrival, along with an earlier hailstorm that preceded this, are my earliest memories. His job at the Potash Corporation, and other ones before that, involved working with computers. When he retired, he'd had enough of computers so he and Jan are not online. He may not see my blog, unless he peeks at it when visiting his daughters! |
The hailstorm that August still sticks in my mind. Cousin Helen Olson was staying at our place so she experienced that wild weather too. I remember taking refuge under the table in the kitchen as the storm pounded the west side of the house. Dad held pillows up to the windows to try and keep them from shattering but to no avail. Glass and hailstones came flying into the front-room as we escaped to the kitchen on the east side of the house. The stones pitted the wooden siding on the house, besides breaking several windows. There wasn't much crop left either so there wasn't a bountiful harvest to welcome the new baby a week or so later.
The nearest doctor was in Shaunavon, about 40 miles away. Mom went up and stayed before her due date. We didn't have a phone until the late 50's so I don't know how Dad found out that he had a son. Perhaps a message got through to the operator in Frontier, who would have related it to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson, who lived in town.
I remember going to Shaunavon on a Sunday afternoon with Dad and Grandma in "the Whippet". Of course no one except Dad could visit mother and baby in those days. Grandma and I spent some time in the nearby park and I remember having a pear to eat. That must have been a special treat back then being it sticks in my mind. I also remember waving goodbye to Mom in the window.
When we took Mom and Merv home, we stopped to show him off to Aunt Ruth. She lived in a teacherage at Hannahville School, south of Shaunavon. I have been told that I thought Aunt Ruth should get the baby some milk, not being very wise about such things as nursing babies!
I went through some of Mom's pictures and found a few of Merv, along with his big sister. Being the second child in the family, he had to share the picture taking with me so I'll post the ones when we were the only "kids". Alan joined us in 1948 and Sandra in 1953.
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| Cousin Helen, Elaine, Mom Merv, not quite one year old |
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| Elaine, Dad and Merv |
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| Dad and Merv |
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| July 1947 |
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| Mervin's 2nd birthday, Aug. 24, 1947 cousin Helen, Grandma Erickson, Dad, Mom, cousin Ralph, Aunt Camilla, Uncle Hans Elaine and Merv |
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In our little red wagon
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I'm not going to quit before I add one from Merv and Jan's wedding on August 5, 1967. They celebrated 44 years together this year so a belated Happy Anniversary along with the birthday wishes.
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| Merv and Jan, Aug.5, 1967 |
Incredible you have such a vivid memory. I really liked the pictures expecially. What a treasure to have those! Did Helen live with you all the time?
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