When I taught ELL at a secondary school, one of the oral assignments I used to give was to ask students to talk about 3-5 important things they would bring to their new homes. Now as I think about my parents and the evacuation and how difficult this must have been for my family and grandparents to decide on what to take and what they had to leave behind.
One of the things I recall seeing was my mother’s Shirley Temple doll in a glass case. I never did ask her why she brought it with her, I guess because it was encased like a Japanese doll, and I could never play with it. Another recollection was a leather music case with her initials. I used it when I took piano lessons and being a child, I found another use for it. It was my sled to slide down the snowy slopes on the way to my teacher’s house. The last possession I recall seeing of my mother’s possessions was a mink scarf stole (for lack of a better description). She told me that her father had bought it for her when he went to Ottawa to see Mackenzie King. I didn’t realize how important this event was for the family and perhaps the Steveston fishermen. I only recall being disgusted with the pelts linked together by their mouths and tails.
