"Alan and I, as children, had happy times with our Winnipeg family and Dad's and Mom's stories brought the family history alive. Getting to know some of my adult cousins and developing a special friendship with Aunt Florence, Aunt Aurora and Uncle Brian was wonderful."

"When my Dad and Mom were first married they lived with her parents, the Riley's, on Furby Street, and later lived with the Johnson's on William Avenue, in the third floor suite."

"Some of my earliest memories of 717 are:

- standing outside on squeaky snow in a snowsuit so bulky my arms wouldn't go right down to my sides

- sitting in the kitchen on Grampa's knee as he fed me "molas" (sugar lumps) dipped in his coffee

- "Umma" in her chair in the kitchen, always dressed in black and never speaking. Scary! Mom told me years later she was chatty in the evening when no children were around

- waking up early and sneaking down the back stairs to watch Grama busy in her kitchen

- sitting on the back veranda with Grampa from where he could water the garden with the hose. The smell of tomato plants always brings back that happy memory.

" My Dad, (Uncle Alfred), loved to tell stories about:

- as a boy going to uncles' farms in the Quill Lakes area of Saskatchewan in the summer

- names like Leo, Olli, Tryggvi and Auntie Stina accompanied this

- the time he and his cousins dropped a cat onto the back of one of the horses, and with the cat clinging on, the horse went off at a gallop

- school-time Saturdays working the handle of the agitator on the washing machine, helping his mother with the laundry

- going by excursion train to Winnipeg Beach for family picnics, laden with huge lunches Grama would pack.

- how Mary prepared lovely fragrant baths for herself that sometimes Florence got to first by dashing in ahead of her and locking the door

- family mealtimes with so many talking, watching young Brian inch forward on his chair waiting for the slightest pause when he could talk really fast to tell his story

- in high school enjoying singing in the productions of Mikado and Pirates of Penzance, and in the Johnson tradition on weekends working at Eatons

- at graduation Dad winning the scholarship and choosing the Electrician training"

"In 1937, his apprenticeship finished, Dad went to B.C. looking for a job. He was hired by the West Kootenay Power Company which supplied electricity to the big mining and smelting plant Cominco, and the surrounding towns. He sent for Mom, Alan and I (ages 6 & 3) and we arrived on Christmas Eve. Rossland was like an alpine willage to us- surrounded by mountains, snow so deep you could only see the top of a man's hat as he walked along the shoveled path to his house."

"Winters were sleigh riding for us kids and skiing for Dad and Mom- sometimes by bright moonlight along the trails. Dad's first job in Rossland was wiring the new hospital and second was wiring the new Junior/Senior High School in Trail. In winter he made the trip to work by toboggan, 6 miles downhill, and came home by train."

"By 1940, we moved to Trail as Dad's job at the power station required. We enjoyed family visits by Grampa, teenagers Eleanore and Brian, Aunt Anna accompanied by young Arthur and later by Aunt Eleanore, Uncle Doug and toddler Dougie. There are fun stories to tell about them all."