August 2, 2020. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Goodness.

I feel like my Mother writing me another death letter. My friends keep dying. Son David tells be it because of my age. Martin, who owns with Myles the Morton House, died last week. They retired from Ontario, just a few years after us and the bought and renovated the B&B in Milton. They were also active in the community. The home was large and sit on top of a sloping hill ovrlooking the river. Every summer they hosted a band concert on their grounds. And after Kelly died they ran the ukelele festival. When I arrived and asked about them I was told that Martin was ill but at home. But I was quarantined and by the time I could see him he was in the hospital, where of course I was unable to visit. So Martin died without me ever telling him how importnt he was to the community. I will miss him and so will Liverpool. At age 93, my friend Bernard Gray died last week too. He and his wife Kitty were important people for Ken and me. They rented an apartment to us over their hardware store in Toronto. They charged us a reduced rent because they were nice. They also were active in the Salvation Army and they knew Ken was in Medical School while I taught school. We lived there for almost five years. They never raised the rent. Bernie was an active, energetic man. He played in his corps band until just a few years ago. And he played in the Heritage Band. There were 5 Gray brothers, who all played in Salvation Army bands and who all ran one of the Gray hardware stores. When you wanted to join the Heritage Band, the proceedure was to ask is there was space for another player. But when Bernie was going to retire from the Heritage Band, he told no one. Instead, one of his younger brothers just quietly took over his seat in the band without saying anything to anyone. The funny pat was that it took a few weeks before anyone noticed. I thought it was funny. Bernie was active and capable umtil just before he died. At 93, he led a long and full and happy life. May he RIP. He was always a good soldier and he and Kitty certainly helped us get through medical school. I am grateful for his life.