The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2008, Side 24

162
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #4
The sheep pasture was a perfect place
to skate when the willow pond froze over.
We also knew that the coyotes were lurk-
ing among the willows, hoping for a stray
sheep to satisfy their hunger. I tried very
hard to scare Bea as we skated, saying that
I could see eyes gleaming from among the
trees. I succeeded in frightening myself and
was the first to remove my skates and scur-
ry up through the barnyard and to the
house. In the summer, it was in this same
pasture that we snared and trapped gophers
to sell their tails in Baldur, our local village,
for five cents each.
Naturally, we became interested in
boys as our teen years rolled around. We
gathered in Baldur on a Saturday night
when the farmers and their families congre-
gated to buy groceries. We sang all the way
into town and all the way home. Boy, those
Jimmie Rogers and Wilf Carter songs were
popular with us! But we girls took another
route - sometimes, sitting on the church
steps and hoping that some young lads
would come along and talk to us, or ask us
to go for a walk. There were also the dances
on Friday evenings in the Memorial Hall
with the Red River Ramblers for music -
and not to forget the beautiful moonlight
waltzes. Bea lost her mother and I lost my
father within the same year. It seemed that
we really grew up during those years. It
was also time for us to study our catechism
in preparation for confirmation. We some-
times rode horseback to these classes. Bea
had her beloved Pal to ride while I was rel-
egated to ride a Bjornson horse by the
name of King, but usually referred to as,
Thunderbolt, as he was such a plodder.
That’s why I rode him - he had one speed -
SLOW!
The years when we both lived in
Winnipeg saw us working for our keep.
After work, we used to ride our bikes to
Sargent Pool, where we swam. The Second
World War was taking place and taking our
young men away. We were of the age when
most young people were thinking of mar-
riage. Then the boys began arriving home
from overseas. By chance, while I was a
hostess at the Eaton Service Centre, I met a
very recently returned soldier whom I
introduced to Bea. He later became her
husband. In turn, I was introduced to their
friend who became my husband. Our first
dance-date together with these young sol-
diers was at the twin ballrooms of the
Royal Alexander Hotel in Winnipeg - such
class! Time went by and we were all close
friends together - all four of us. Both Bea
and I received our engagement rings in the
mail from Vancouver where our men
friends had gone to seek their fortune. We
had a double-wedding on May 17, 1947 at
First Lutheran Church on Victor Street in
Winnipeg. We motored together to
Vancouver on our honeymoon. Yes - we
honeymooned together! Bea presented A1
with a son, and I remember so well that I
had scheduled my holiday so that I could
be there to lend a hand when she came
home from the hospital. On the menu was
hamburger soup. A few months later, my
son was born. Our boys were baptized
together.
Today, we are in touch daily by tele-
phone. Our visits together are punctuated
with the lovely touch of the Icelandic fare
we grew up with. There are the old
favourites of rulupylsa, skyr, kleinur,
vlnarterta and coffee, of course. We cele-
brate our years of friendship in this way.
Though the years have not always been
kind health wise, Bea has never lost her
sense of humour. We laugh nonsensically
over the pronunciation of some difficult
Icelandic word or expression. For Aunty
Bea and Me - we have withstood the pas-
sage of time with caring, sharing and lov-
ing. Our ‘good night’ to one another
changeth not - “Goda nott, Elskan.”
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