30 years ago

Let's see now......about 30 years ago I was 26, married and living in the then much smaller than it is now town of Didsbury AB.  Grew up in Calgary, and although it barely qualified as a city, Didsbury seemed like the end of the rural earth to me.  We began life as a married couple in a little old house filled with mice and spiders but not much insulation in the walls.  The entrance porch was so cold we used it as a freezer for our leftovers that winter.  When the owners decided to tear the house down only a few months after we moved in it was kind of a mercy!  We were given 4 days notice to get packed, find a place, and move but even at that the wrecking crew was taking down the house before we had the last of our things removed.  Lost a couple of wedding gifts in the tear down, but at least we had a place to go: an elderly army barracks building turned into a 4-plex.  It was a ruin but thanks to contractor friends it was able to be repainted in jig time so we could get moved into it. The Cox Family:  our salvation in so many circumstances in those days.  Friendship, parenting, employment, a spiritual family for us........what an amazing bunch that we remain friends with to this day.  The 4-plex was owned by now deceased Emerson and Pearl Shantz. ( loved the names)  They were an amazing older couple who seemed to take to us as Dell was able to do many of the small repairs Emerson could no longer handle.  Each year they lowered our rent by a few dollars a month.  But the poor old place had its problems.  The day we moved out the hot water tank blew up, drenching the new tennants and all their belongings.  Our church family moved us out of Didsbury and up to Olds.  I will never forget the line of people stretched outside passing our belongings from person to person and then repeating the procedure in Olds. I was expecting my son at the time and so our pastor drove me out to his house in the country to stay with his wife so I wouldn't over do it.   How kind!!