| Page 2, December 6, 1 978 - North Shore News | “My. grandfather loved 1 me. oe -wasn' t his only love, of course. He loved a lot of people. But I came along at.a time when ‘his own children had grown up and left, and he made my toys and pulled my sleigh. - We lived. in ‘Monireal. for’ the first.seven years: of my fife. During the fast years of the Depression my = grand-_ - papa who had been one of the many contractors wiped out by the ‘dirty thirties’, was often out of work. He filled in with a few days work | _ hege and there as a ‘carpen- | ter, draftsman and, best of all, babysitter and friend. . _ My mother worked in Montreal and father was out: of town about. six months a- year, and as a result my younger sister and I spent a - great deal. of time at our grandparents: They lived in a third-floor. walk-up.apart-. .. ment on Durocher Street, ‘ one of several Similar apart-. ments on-the ‘street, each — with a graceful outside Staircase identical. with. its neighbours.’ There was a vacant lot across the way and _.then a train station, and in behind. the’ apartment there 11 39 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C. so v7M 2H4 he OFFICE/INEWS (604) 980-051 1. _ CLASSIFIED. - 986-6222 CIRCULATION » 986-1 $37 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Bob Graham Editor-in-Chief Noel Wright — Mane Ing Editor _ Andy Fraser News Editor Chris Uoyd Photos . Elisworth Dickson Advertising Director Eric Cardwell. Traffic Manager Donna Champion Production Tim Francis Faye McCrae Classified Beri Hilliard Circulation Director Stewart Circulation Manager Yvonne Gourley Administration Barbara Haywood Accounts _ Syivia Sorenson | North Shore News, founded ° jin .1969 as an independent community nowspapor and qualified under Schedule 111, Part 111, Paragraph 111 of tho Excise Tax Act,is publishad each Wednesday ‘and Sunday Ltd. and distributed to overy door on the North Shore. Socond Class Mail Registration Numbor 38B5. VERIFIED CIRCULATION 47, A51 Ente contents ) 1076 @ Free Proce Lid. All rights t o home. was a - joy. and | a host” “Of by the North Shore Froe Pross | was. a shed. occupied by a ‘man who carved. tombstones. A I oY TO VISIT Going to my grandparents They lavished affection on us. I can: clearly ‘remember the excitement of climbing the — outside stairs and ringing the "electric lights that created a peering through the . curtains until: :my grand-— -mother (Bonne-Maman, we always . called: her) came. bell, down - the inside stairs and - opened the door. The place. - was always immaculate, and to this day the smell of floor ‘polish brings back those stairs and their rubber mat, _ pleasant memories. i a My Bonne-Maman was a "warm. and loving lady, but I: think ‘I was closer -to-.my ~ : grandfather. He had lots of _ time for. ‘me. | ; ‘many interesting things in — that apartment to.show a. ‘small boy. He kept birds, and. - . Showed.me the'tiny eggs. He There ‘were built) house models. for ‘architects, and let me fool around | with the. scraps. of : tiny planks. He never comp- ~ Jained' when 1. got into his drawer of fascinating ‘draft- "ing implements,.all smelling — of pencil shavings and . - complete with tiny parts that “moved and, alas, broke off from time to time. He was a . very patient man. In the summer we went on the streetcar to the farmer's market,a three storey build- ing with many interesting sights - piles of fruit and _ vegetables, chickens alive in crates, people haggling and a wealth of smells. He bought the groceries for the family, and then we took the long streetcar ride home. They. were poor .- grandfather . rolled his.own cigarettes as a matter of economy, not style, and I can: remember my. grandmother making yellow - _ soap in a large flat pan and _ cutting it. up with a knife after it had set. — ‘In the winter, often when the weather was very cold, grandpapa would bundle me up and take me on the sled | behind him. We went many — places - across the field tu watch the trains, or out the back to talk to the tombstone carver. Sometimes our ad- ventures would end at the neighborhood smoke shop, where grandpapa would & chew the fat with his friends — while I played near the warm stove. ONE OF THOSE TRAINS When ss! was seven, my father decided to move back to his home town. We went ‘on one of those trains that my grandfather had taken me to | sce sO many times - my " mother, father, sister and me. -* to Vancouver. We were very “excited. Our grand- parents saw us _ off, with ‘tears. ‘That Christmas, It was a Christmas tree stand, a most unusual.one - a red and white house, built on a piece of wood about three ‘feet . square... The tree was | wedged in the chimney and . ‘stood in a bucket of water inside the house. The struc- | _ ture was very detailed, with doors, and windows with real glass in them, and. tiny. world of mysteries within for small. people who tried to -.. peer into every corner. The house had drapes, a picket fence, .and miniature ‘trees’ on the walk around. _ it. There were coloured lights around the door and eaves, and many interesting things. At Christmas we would pile — our presents up against the . small picket fence, and _ Christmas_ morning almost every. toy got around the Christmas House. ‘zoomed’ “We didn’ t lose touch with my grandparents right away. _My grandfather made two ‘trips out to the West Coast to help my father with some | home renovations, and two ¢ or three times, until I was a - teenager, I went to Montreal on the train and stayed with 3. them for part of the summer » ‘holidays. But I thought people lived forever, then. THEY SHED TEARS ! a gift arrived from my grandpapa. | | tong life permalloy head | _-air damped eject | -full auto stop — _ Dolby system a | output! tevel control _ When I left Montreal after - | staying with them they shed . tears, and {i couldn’t see why they would feel so bad. After all, I assured them, I'd be back to see them again. But the look on their faces never struck home to me, until they _ _weren’t there to love any — more. The Christmas House stay- ed in my family for years, We used it long after my _ grandparents died, and then I had my own home and CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 CANADA'S LARGEST 1 12-Point Winter s Tune-up. : Pressure Test the System ‘eCheck the Operation of the ‘Water Pump i eRomove the Radiator | Boil, Clean and Flush the Radiator Flow Test the Radiator 8 °Flush the Block and Heater Core - eCheck All Hoses, Clamps and ~ Belts | Pressure Test the Radiator . Cap. 7 -eAnalyse the Cooling Capacity | of the Anti Freeze a °Test the Thermostat POONER PEEP ey 4 ' 1 °Paint the Radiator with Anti. 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