Redhed's Rambles: 2014-05-04

Digging for Family Roots....

A number of decades ago, I involved myself in a self-analysis process in order to better understand the paths that I had chosen in life. I read many books on self understanding, attended different workshops, and participated in a variety of self-help groups. I have always been a strong advocate for preserving Family networks, and although I sometimes stumbled in the case of my own journey, I feel strongly that the influences of Family often dictate the unknown choices that we sometimes make in Life.

I remember reading a book called Family Ties that Bind, which was essentially a discussion of family of origin issues and implications. For awhile, the premise of that book and related others became the focus of my attempt to understand my Life. More years and experiences have mellowed my views somewhat, and while I still have a strong belief regarding the influences of Family, I seem to now have a broader understanding and appreciation not only for the impact of Family but that of life and circumstance.

Thanks to a generous nephew who is a Captain at Westjet, I was able to spend a week with my sister in Toronto. I started my journey east in Comox, met my sister and nephew in Calgary, and travelled with her to Toronto. While I was awaiting departure from the Comox airport, the Canadian Air Force aerobatic team, The Snowbirds, were practising in the skies overhead. The adjacent Canadian airbase is the home for 442 squadron, the members of which are responsible for search and rescue operations in British Columbia and the Yukon.

I haven't flown in a couple of years, and in my packing beforehand, I grabbed a backpack which was in my closet. I figured that I could use that as a carry-on and keep my checked luggage to a minimum. As we all know, security is considerably tighter now, and I was shocked when the security people at Comox told me that I was carrying a knife. I had not checked all of the pockets of the backpack, and sure enough, I rediscovered a good Gerber knife which had missing for a couple of years. The security folks were good about it, and I think recognized that it was a genuine mistake on my part. I asked if I could leave it with them and pick it up when I returned to Comox in a week. The young girl rolled her eyes at that one, and I was prepared to lose the knife when another security guy offered to take me back to check in, and try and find my checked baggage. Luckily, it was easily found, the knife was placed in the checked luggage, and I was cleared to go. It pays to pay closer attention to the rules regarding luggage restrictions I was reminded. I was very impressed with the security folks, and their willingness to accommodate me so that I did not have to give up my knife. Although they were not Westjet employees, they did exhibit the type of helpful attitude, which in my experience, is typical of Westjet folks.

A view of the Canadian Rockies between British Columbia and Alberta, for my friends in other lands...

My sister and I spent a night with my nephew in Calgary, and then flew on to Toronto. We had made arrangements to meet with some of our relatives whom we had not met in a very long time. One of our aunts had recently passed away, and the gathering of the Family was an opportunity for us to meet folks whom we had not met. Our Mother had married Dad at the end of the War, and headed out west, while the remaining 11 brothers and sisters from her family had stayed in the Toronto area. We were looking forward to meeting our cousins and their children.

In the meantime, we did some touring of downtown Toronto. My sister had decided that she was going to walk on the edge of the CN Tower, and she claimed that this adventure had been on her bucket list for a long time. I did not know what she was talking about, but I decided quite early on that I was not having anything to do with hanging from the edge of a tower a thousand or so meters in the air!

The closer we got to the CN tower, the more convinced I was that my Sis had slipped a cog. I hurt my neck just looking up at the Tower.

Apparently she had seen Rick Mercer do this walk, and therefore she figured that it would be easy-peasy.

The advertising featured smiling faces, but there was no way that I was going out there. I get vertigo from watching a climbing event on T.V.! My sister recognized that there was no way of convincing me to hang off the edge of the tower, and she was convinced that she wanted to do the Edge Walk. All I saw was a very tall tower going up, and up, and up....

We hung around until it was time for my Sister to have the training sessions prior to the actual walk on the edge of the Tower.

It seemed to me that her smile was kind of frozen on her face, but she was determined to go with the adventure of hanging out in space. A family of five joined her. They had come from England to enjoy the Canadian experience.

After the crew was ready, I hurried up the elevator to the observation deck. I would be able to watch my kid sister hanging out in space via the safety of external video cameras. My view from the deck was amazing, and the size and scope of Toronto was before me. I was 351 meters, or 1151 feet above the hard concreted below.

I watched an aircraft land at Billy Bishop airport, below me, as I waited for my sister and her companions to swing into view. I was able to watch the progress of the group on video monitors as they walked around the edge of the Tower. They were above us on what appeared to be a 2 meter wide walkway.....

Swan dive at 1200 feet!! Yikes....

Attagirl!!

Yikes!!!

While I was busy taking photos of the monitors, I was telling anybody who would listen that she was my sister, out there. I still felt pangs in my stomach, watching them hanging out there, and when they moved around the catwalk, I found it easier to fool with my camera than watch. Too high for this Scaredy Cat...

It was enough for me to simply put my feet on the edge of the glass floor, and peer down a thousand meters or so...

It seems that our trip to Niagara Falls the next day was somewhat anti-climatic for my sister, who was more interested in hanging out with the birds...

My sister and I visited Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and after some searching we found the site where our maternal grandparents were buried. We could not find the burial site for our great grandfather who I understand came over from Ireland in the middle of the last century.

My sister and I were able to visit with our Aunt Kay, who still holds down an accounting job at 88 years young.

A bonus to meeting Aunt Kay was to reconnect with her six daughters, all cousins full of energy, laughs and many stories. My sister and I also met six other cousins whom I had not seen for over 50 years. It was gratifying to spend time with our Ontario family members. I learned a bit more about our family roots and I was very happy to reconnect with Family.