Bill..warning. No pictures, recipes or homesteading!

At night, right before bedtime we have "quiet time" My hubby and I take turns laying with our son for 10-15 min after he goes to bed. Kid talks ( mostly nonsense about zombies eating brains and the cat) and we listen and ask questions, talk back....whatever fits. This is my favorite part of every day. I can be tired, cranky, unfit to snuggle, awful, bitchy etc and forcing myself in there to listen to more talking and more weird noises. BUT a few minutes in I relax and we snuggle and chat. Lately I have been telling Kev stories about Bill. Now, Bill was a extra-ordinary person. He was my Great Grandfather. He died one Friday in July 1999. I have missed William Burton "Bill" Langille every day since. He was the most kind, interesting human I have ever met. There were 3 things that "Pop" knew. Salmon fishing, gardening and "Goof". All 3 flowed together and afternoons were spent in the wonderland he created in his backyard getting lessons in picking raspberries and fish composting. I loved that yard and often recall the laughter us 3 girls shared with him and my great grandmother. Madeline Langille was tough as nails and most thought her mean but I adored her. Costume jewellery, a clean house, a love for Bill that was heartbreaking ................AND vodka hidden in the dryer. I wish she was still here( I can picture vodka on her kitchen and stories I would love to hear). She died shortly after Bill. They were only married for 34 years and unknown to me at the time Bill was not my maternal great grandfather. Nan left her first husband and moved to Nova Scotia where she met Pop. They later moved to Salt Lake City where they decided to marry. At the time( wayyyyy back) you were forced to publicly announce your intentions for divorce. Nan had a piece run int he Salt Lake Paper and a Newfoundland Paper. I found this in a tea cup in her china cabinet after she died. It was then that I realized that She has a person who I knew little about. Pop too. Anyways....back to Pop
 IN February 2000 my nephew was born. A avid outdoors man, he brings tears to my eyes because he fishes the same spots Pop took us( no one showed Kaden those spots. He just....found them)I do not think this was an accident.

Pop used to say that " If you sat down long enough a fish would come say Hi Little girl) I have no idea if Pop ever knew our names. We, including my Mudder, were "little girl". He would come home every day with Salmon. He would carefully clean them with the same tools he always had and teach me about compost. See gardening and fishing go hand in hand and Pop knew this. If you mixed salmon guts with the soil beneath your raspberries MAGIC HAPPENED. He grew rows upon rows of raspberries that were as big as our thumbs. We often ate them off our thumbs after a careful picking lesson. I still pick berries the way Pop taught us. Here's another secret for you: Only take the berry. It's harder than you think. Try it. Pop had these massive, thick , working hands ( he was a miner his whole life and died of lung cancer- go figure) and he could pick a berry so carefully that there was not a speck of juice on a finger. When he died, Nan had the yard mowed clean. I personally think it hurt too much to look out the back window.
Your probably wondering what GOOF is????? Well, it's wine in a massive jug. He would slip my Mom some money and she would bring him back a jug from town. it was artfully hidden in his shed from Nan, while her Vodka was tucked away in the dryer.( Now I know why she preferred to hang her clothes...sneaky lady) Goof was a very important part of the gardening/fishing equation.
 I still go visit there grave markers and still to this day I do insist they are on the wrong sides. I just know, from the day we laid those boxes in, that Nan is under Pops name and vice versa.. I could hear her shouting at me during the service. " That's not my side of the bed!!!!!" My Mom insists it's not so...but me and Nan know. One day I will dig them up and put it right.
 The stories about Bill have become soo much a part of our night. Kev can tell them to me now and although he has no idea that Bill is a real person, one day it will click and he will have at least stories of the greatest grandfather there ever was. We didn't know how lucky we were as kids and each spring as I plan my gardening I think of Bill and the thumb berries. Maybe it's a children's book in the future but for now....every night at 7:30 you can hear the story in Kev's room. I don't have a picture ( as digital shit wasn't around for us back then) but I will never forget that little cottage, big yard and old couple. My sister now owns the house. It is empty and I will get there to take some pics before it's gone. I wish we would teach our kids the importance of the wisdom and knowledge of "old people" Our kids need to know about fishing, berries, compost, canning etc. These are things I was too young to learn from my great grandparents and grandfather and now I wish I had paid attention because secret recipes get lost, never written down and the talent in years of work can never be learned without a teacher. Teach your kids EVERYTHING. So they can look back as adults and thank you for that knowledge.