June writes: Now this is really boring
its a glamorized version of the facts!
1960-1963
B Sc Edinburgh - poor degree but good parties
1963-1964 Moray House - advanced partying
1964-1967 Taught math in various Scottish locales - boring
and poorly paid. The good bit was working in the ski bars in Aviemore
and Grantown at the weekends and skiing for free during the day.
There were good parties there too.
1967-1969 Taught math in Toronto - great parties, much
better salary and lots of laughs
1969 Married Gus (he's from Appin) in Toronto. Helenor
claims to have introduced us at the Highlanders in Glasgow in
1965, but he says he was blown away by my stunning beauty. No-one
really remembers the details of some of these long ago nights.
1969-1974 Great parties, skiing, trips, boats and more
high school math teaching. By this time I was actually quite good
at teaching. Didn't save any money or do any of that house stuff.
Gus went back to university as he wanted a Canadian degree. We
were definitely not going to have any children.
1974 Surprise child #1, Allan, and great contract job on
Native Reserve working for the local community college. Taught
math, physics and chemistry. I didn't know much or chemistry,
but the students knew less. Lots of laughs and very few rules.
Life on the Rez was very different and it was my first experience
of being in a racial minority.
1976 Offered full time job from community college teaching
a mixture of native and non native unemployed and welfare people.--
grabbed it. So here I was with dream job, small child and wanting
another child. By this time Gus had finished school and was working
as an industrial chemist. (He's still is).
1977 Child #2 Anna
1976-1988 Ran my little off -campus operation 30 miles
away from main college. (There's a book waiting to be written).
Laughs, tears, tragedies, real teaching, and no rules. We had
police chasing students, child welfare coming to tell people that
they had scooped the kids, hookers working from the phone in the
back room, people losing it, drug addicts coming down, ex cons
pacing like when they were in solitary, students stealing from
each other, guys on day parole.
Looking back I can see there were a few
crazy days but it was all such fun.
1988-present I had to become a real teacher in the main
college except I sometimes get neat little jobs on different reserves
and in factories teaching workers and such like. The students
are still quite fun and the young teachers are even funnier. Were
we so arrogant?
We live in a nice little town, Sarnia, at the south end of Lake
Huron on the US border. We have a 50 acre farm that's mostly bush.
We may build there and become real hicks if we ever get round
to it.. Gus sails and I garden, collect and fix up junque and
do the usual volunteer old lady stuff. I'm thinking about retirement
but it's not high on my list of fun things at this point.
The kids seem to be almost normal -computer people. We've had
many many (too many?) trips to Scotland. I'm always glad to get
back to civilization. After 35 years we're definitely Canadians.
The kids started to hate UK when they were teenagers as they did
not like the smell of diesel buses. They are actually both visiting
Scotland in August for a family wedding so they must be getting
interested in their heritage a little. My father still lives in
the Port and I still visit him at least once a year. Although,
I've lost touch with most of you, I still feel quite at home in
the Port and in Argyll where Gus still has relatives and friends.
However, I got a horrible shock last summer when a 'white settler'
in the Port asked me where I was from and she didn't believe me.
She'd been there 30 years but I'd really left 40 years ago!
I look forward to seeing you all. june