Memories are something we all have and
                             no one can take them away from us.

Memories 
September 29, 2025
by Rose Marie Rideout

      I hold my memories sacred to my heart. I have so many of being a child and being taught by our Mom to always be good and treat every person with kindness, respect and love, just the way we would want to be treated. There were eight children in our family and our mom always seemed to have enough time for each of us. She cooked all our meals and baked all of our sweets. There was always ginger snaps, homemade bread and different kinds of loafs. We didn't have much back in those days but she made sure we never did without. Most of our meals consist of moose meat, caribou, rabbits and fish. My dad would always hunt when the season was right. He would always set snares and fishing was all the time. In thw winter we would watch as our dad filled the snowshoes, He worked long through the night so he could  make money to buy food and oil. I can see his worn hands all calloused from stretching the moose hide that he had cut in strips and soaked in water until it softened. I remember he was always self employed and Jack of all trades. He could build anything, painted houses inside and out along with building homes.

   I remember when the Sears Christmas catolouge would be out. We would get so excited looking through it and wishing we could have so many things from it, although deep within our hearts we knew that wasn't realistic as money was scarce so when we were asked what we really wanted for Christmas the girls would say a doll, no special one and dishes and pots and pans so we could play house. We must have been good because under the tree would be a new baby doll for us and a set of dishes along with pots and pans which always made us smile and we always had a colouring book and crayons. Mom always made sure we had a new outfit to wear on this very special day and of course we had a stocking which was filled with an apple, orange grapes and some candy. The boys always wanted guns and trucks along with a sled that our dad would make. Everyone was full of smilesand so pleased with what Santa had brought to us.
    In the summer dad would make a set of swings for us and a seesaw and all our friends would come to play. It was always so much fun. In the winter Dad would make a rink in the back yard for us although for some reason the girls never learned to skate, though we tried hard. The boys caught on quickly, each of them learned to swim but again the girls for some reason was afraid of the water.
    I remember the boys building stilts and I must say they shared them with us and we were good at walking with them. We all had hoola hoops and I know that's what kept us thin along with the fact that there was no such thing as fast foods back then.
    Life was beautiful. We knew our friends by their names and faces. We would go to their house to see if they wanted to go outside to play. We never spent hours in the house, we had so many games to play, we kept busy all day until we heard our mom's call us for supper and we knew not to be late. Often we would bring a friend home for a meal and it never seem to bother our mom.
     All the mom's were stay at home mom's back then. The dad's worked when there was work which wasn't much back in those days. Sometimes, not very often we would be lucky enough to get a quarter and we thought we were rich, unlike today we could buy a coke, bag of Adams chips an icecream cone and have three cents left over so we would buy three cents worth of jelly beans because you could get three for a penny. Today the kids need twenty dollars to treat themselves.
     I must have been about seven when we got our first black and white telivision and we weren't aloud to touch it. Mom or dad would turn it on and we only had two channels on it. We would sit quietly and watch the Indian test pattern until the Friendly Giant would come on and then Chez Hlean would come on. The boys always enjoyed their Super Heros. We always watched Bonaza and the Ed Sullivan  show on Sunday evening.
In todays world you have to be careful of what their kids are watching. It's like music, we could listen to all the music that they played and I always loved country music and always will. I've listened to some of the music of today, what the kids are listening to and some of the language in some of those songs isn't fit for them to listen to.
   In the summer, we would go to the beach at Wild Cove in the back of a friends truck. There would be so many kids. Dad would sit my sister and I on a hugh rock while they were swimming. We would get nervous as the water started rising but dad never forgot to come and get us, then we would all have a picnic with sandwiches, cookies and kool-aid which was enjoyed by everyone of us.
    We are all grown up now and our parents along with one sister and two brothers have passed away. They are all sadly missed and life is not the same without them. Some kids don't realize you only have one set of parents and you can never replace them, neither can you replace your siblings especially when you are a close family like we were.
     I am all grown now and so are our five children. They have spouses and children of their own. This year is 2025 and we have decided to have a big Christmas for them, like the ones they remembered with lots of gifts and Stockings filled around the tree. They are all going to be home for Christmas but only three of our eleven grandchildren, so many live in BC.. It will be so exciting for us. We are now seventy years old and it has been so many years since we had a really big Christmas.
    Life was the best for us and I sure wish the kids today could have the chance to live the way we did. I wonder could they handle it without cell phones, coloured TV's, microwaves, automatic washers and dryers and cars for their transportation. We walked every where and knew how to work hard helping our parents.
    Just a little insight on my special life and the memories of a child.
    

                                Thank you for reading my words,
                                        Rose Marie Rideout