Grandma Story #2

One of my favourite things about Grandma stories is how she gets very smiley when she remembers something fondly, upset when she recalls a sad moment and she gets worked up if it's a bad story and she's still mad about something. Grandma always remembers her father very fondly. You can tell she admired and looked up to him. She always says how gentle he was despite participating world war I and II. He sounds like a great father who always did the best for his kids.

About a 2 or 3 years after Grandma moved to Canada with my Papa and my Mom, she grew homesick. She grew so homesick that Papa agreed to move back to Scotland. With that Grandma took a boat back to Scotland. The plan was for Grandma to spend a few months to get settled and look for a house. When Grandma was home she stayed with her parents and she had with her, my Mom and her 2nd daughter*. Grandma spent a lot of time with her Dad while she was home and he accompanied her while she looked for places to live, sometimes leaving the babes at home with her Mother. One day while Grandma and her Dad were out looking at houses, something hit her and Grandma started to cry in the car. When her Dad asked her what was wrong she told him that she knew she had to go back to Canada, that it was where she was supposed to be and that she couldn't move home to Scotland. Grandma told me that her Dad nodded and told her he knew she did and that he understood. Then she told me that they hugged and cried together in that car for quite a while before going home. Grandma returned to Canada with her babies and as far as I know, the topic of moving back to Scotland never came up again.

*I think my aunt Janice was born before this happened but I will have to ask Grandma to find out for sure.

Grandma struggled with being in Canada and she sacrificed having her family near her to be here. Papa was willing to sacrifice what he wanted to make Grandma happy. Grandma's Dad sacrificed having his first born near him so that she could live her life as she wanted it. I'm so happy and proud that I come from this generous and caring family.