April 5, 2009. Baysville, Ontario. Bud and Mary.

I am waiting for them now, watching from the den. They are coming from Parry Sound and will spend a coupe of days with us here in Baysville. From my spot in the den, I overlook the gardens and the large entertainment center, with just a corner of the driveway into this resort, so I am hoping I can catch them as they drive up. Parry Sound is about an hours drive from here so they should be here mid-morning. Ken and I consider Bud and Mary good friends, which is interesting because we are almost totally opposite from each other. They have stayed put in one place, Parry Sound. They were both born and raised there. Bud spent nine moths attending College in Toronto, but for the rest of his life, he has lived happily in Parry Sound. Bud completed his Bachelor of Education Degree via long distance. He taught school, and for years was the principal of an Elementary school. He retired several years ago. They have three children. Mary is good at everything. For years she gave dinners for organizations at the Hockey Arena, The Bobby Orr Arena, and just a few years ago stopped doing it. They are good friends and have put up with our comings and goings throughout the years. They were married two weeks ahead of us so you can see they are not young either.

Ken and Bed went to school together, which means, all through school together. Bud tells the story of one sunny Spring day when both boys were in a study hall. Of course they were not studying. The windows were open, so the two boys jumped out the window and were lying in the sun on the grass, sans shirts, when a teacher called out the window, "Dickie, what the hell are you doing now?" The teacher knew that it was Ken's fault they were laying outside without their shirts on. Bud also reports that it made him mad because Ken always did well at school while Bud also did well, but had to work hard while Ken did not appear to do any work at all, which would have been true. Bud and Mary have been examples to me that living in a small place requires greater intellect and drive than living in a big city.

Bud is the youngest son of a large Family. I believe he is youngest of twelve, so some of his brothers were old enough to be his uncle. Now here is a new story. One of Bud's older brothers was in the Second World War. Just two years ago, a woman contacted Bud, to say that she thought they were related. She is now coming to visit her long lost relatives next week from England. Evidently as often happened, a baby was born during the war, and the child was told that Father died during the war. The child grew up, then retired, then started looking through the Mother's belongings, to find that a strange person from Canada had sent money over to the child all throughout many years. After investigating the records, she discovered that their never had been a husband, but that she had a big Family in Canada, so she contacted them. It turns out that several family members were aware of the child in England, but the Mother's wishes were to say nothing to the child., so they kept quiet. Bud is excited to meet this new step-sister. I am sure this a story tat has been repeated many times from the discombobulation of the Second World War, but this is a story with a happy ending.