Down Memory Lane

Our house at Kane and our kitchen in winter.

Another stepping stone for me was where and when I grew up. There are many things that have had a great influence in becoming who I am today. This was our way of life. What we had was better than what the generation before had known. What mattered was the feeling of security, love and provisions of the necessities of life.

Ours was an older house that was cold in wintertime. So, as a small child we lived in two rooms for the winter. Grandpa Heppner lived in another room. (definitely a challenge for my parents). Later renos were done and we could use more rooms.

Our heating was with stoves and a woodburning kitchen range. We had no electricity until I was in grade eight. Water was carried in (melting snow in winter) and then later we got a cistern with a pump in the kitchen.

With no fridge or freezer and no running water, it was quite a feat to keep things working and still preserve all the food we needed for the winter months.

I can almost count the number of cans of food on my fingers that were bought. Mom had a huge garden and canned a couple hundred jars for winter. She also made all the bread and any other baking that was needed. Still, she was able to cook the most delicious meals. However , fresh fruit was only available in summer except for a few apples if we were lucky. There just wasn't any money for that.

We had no telephone and TV didn't come in until I was a teenager. We had to use our creative minds to fill our spare time. Reading was my favorite. I read as many as 200 books a year.

We as children learnt to take responsibility and knew what our chores were. This has stood me in good stead in the years to come. There is so much more I could say but this gives you a picture of what our home was like for my growing up years.

With the onset of each new convenience we rejoiced but it wasn't the centre of our lives. The saying "gratitude turns what we have into enough",can truly be said of Mom and taught us this as well.

I thank the Lord for this stepping stone in my life and how it has shaped who I am today.