Family Slide Show

I recently got all these pictures off of Brother 1's computer. I thought I'd share them with you all so that you can gain a better understanding of who I am and where I'm from. My parents moved to Maryland about five years ago, while I was away at college. Some people ask why I say I'm from Canada. Well, how could I ever claim Maryland when my childhood looks like this?


























This first picture is of my grandpa. Good looking guy, isn't he? He was headed for pro hockey, but he injured himself so he went back home. We're all happy about that, though, since he married my grandma at that point.























And oh! What have we here? Their wedding picture? Is it any wonder that all their grandchildren are so good looking? No. No, it's no wonder at all.


















Here we have a picture of Brother 1 as a baby. I really couldn't resist. We grew up in Porcupine, Ontario. My grandparents lived in South Porcupine, Ontario. (Which, intuitively, is west of Porcupine.)

















This picture represents what may have been the crowning moment of my father's life---his four oldest children all on the hockey rink. In fact, every year, he'd make our very own hockey rink in our yard. He'd board off the spot with plywood, shovel it down to the gravel, and water it down with a hose until it all froze into a perfect skating rink.

















Here are the two oldest boys with ducks. My parents---I don't know what they were thinking---allowed us to take duck feet or partridge feet with us to school for show-and-tell. If you pull on one of the tendons, you can make the foot open and close. Open and close. Open and close. Who needs a barbie when you've got a bird foot?



















And of course, there was always playing in the boat with the dead moose. What child had a meaningful childhood without this fundamental experience?
























Our parents and grandparents wanted to teach us the principle of stewardships. They gave us each a spot in my grandpa's garden where we were supposed to plant onions. Then, over the course of the summer, we'd watch and take care of our little patch of onions. Here's a picture of Grandpa with Brother 1 and his stewardship.

















I often tell my friends about our cottage on the lake. Here's a picture of what I've always been talking about. Normally, we'd go there in the summers, but we'd try to make a couple treks out there in the winter, too.

















Here's a picture of Brother 2. Brother 1 had cut a hole in the ice and went in for a dip. Brother 2 decided to do the same thing, but he also wanted to shampoo his hair. He got in the hole, put on the shampoo, thought he was going to die because it was so cold, hopped out of the hole, realized that the air outside on his wet skin was worse than having been in the hole in the first place, tried to rinse as much shampoo out of his hair as possible, and ran back up to the cottage. I also have a picture of Brother 1 in the hole, but for some reason, it wouldn't post properly.

So there are a few memories for you, and perhaps a little insight into what made me who I am today. It's a wonder after all that, that we all turned out so well-adjusted, and I'll say it again, ridiculously good looking. Here are two pictures of us: then and now. You'll notice that we have an addition to the family. This picture was taken at Brother 1's wedding to Sister-in-law (okay, okay, I know that they need better aliases!). For the sake of anonymity, I won't tell you which person in the picture is me.