May 9, 2009. Baysville, Ontario. More Cousins.

Now we are all living together, Ian and Rita Dickie from Sudbury, Randy and Gaby Dickie, along with Jessica and Rachel their children, who live in Toronto, and Ken and I. Randy is the son of Ray Dickie who is a brother of Ian which of course means Ray is a cousin of Ken. Of course, the Dickie Chicks are here too, all five of us. We are having a good time. When Ray's first wife died, Rita and Ian went to help out with the two young children, so Randy has always been close to Rita and Ian and their children. It is interesting how time enhances some relationships while others are diminished. Ian is four years younger than Ken while Ray is exactly the same age, so as kids, Ken and Ray were a pair. In the summer, the Dickie boys from Sudbury spent time in Parry Sound with their grandparents, and played with the Dickie boys in Parry Sound. Over the years, Ken and I have been in touch with Ray, but never with Ian. Rita and Ian lived in several different countries, as Ian was a mining engineer and his expertise was opening mines. It was at Pearl's funeral in Parry Sound that we got acquainted with both Ian and Rita. We have been in touch with them ever since.

Ken and I knew of Randy, but we had never met him until we travelled up to Sudbury to see Rita and Ian, and had the good fortune to be there for the Christening of Randy and Gaby's first daughter. They all came to our 40Th anniversary party in Ontario, where they also met David and Suzanne and Andrew and Christina, and all six of them have been in touch with other ever since. The eight little girls between 7 and 11 had a wonderful time playing together at our anniversary in Nova Scotia. All cousins kind of look alike. Now a part of the family is in Muskoka, having a good time, but wishing that the rest of the family was there too. This morning we went on a boat ride on the lake with Bruce. The difference today was the fog and rain. A normal family would have cancelled the trip, but not this family. We all loved it, but were ready to get off the boat and find warmth. Tomorrow we all go our separate ways, but we all will recall our time together at the Landscapes, on The Lake of Bays.