Prompt # 28 - Parents

Prompt # 28 – Parents

My father, Donald Albert Bridgeman, was born in Brandon, Manitoba, June 24, 1920, and grew up on his parents' farm near Bradwardine, MB, the third of fourteen children. Although he liked school, when he finished Grade 8 he had to go out to work, usually for other local farmers. It was the Depression so he and friends including his brother Jim took the train to BC looking for better prospects. He was hired on at the Harpur Ranch in Rock Creek. He loved working there and forever after called Mrs. Harpur “Mum” which was a shock to me, that he would call another woman besides Grandma “Mum.” Although they didn't get together until after the war, Dad met my mother on the Harpur Ranch when he was eighteen and she was thirteen. A group of teens were at the swimming hole. Mum was there with her sister Betty who was closer to Dad's age. Mum wrote about the day in her journal. Mum's mother and Mrs. Harpur were the best of friends.

Dad joined up in 1940 in Brandon, spent many long months training in England, and then went with Canadian forces on the invasion of Italy. At the end of fighting, he was wounded in Italy and spent a couple of weeks in hospital, joining a different group for the final weeks of the war in Europe. He returned home in November, 1945. He bought a farm with the assistance of the Veterans Land Act. His farm, in Oak River district, the old Henderson place, was three miles from his parents' farm. He had asked to buy land in BC but was told that the economy was too depressed and Manitoba would be a better prospect. He farmed for approximately thirty years before selling the land and retiring back to BC. In Manitoba, his pastimes included curling in the winter, fishing in the summer, and poker every week. When he retired, he continued these activities and added lawn bowling and bridge. He would play any card game if there was a nickel riding on it, but bridge and poker were his passions. He died of cancer in Vernon on May 16,1984.

Dad was always called Don. His nickname in the army was Dinty, it think, not sure why. When he used to manage my brothers' baseball and hockey teams, I heard others call him “Chief” but I think that was because he used to stand tall and walk proud as soldiers are trained to do. Once when my little brother was about four, I watched him and Dad walk from the woodpile to the house. They marched in perfect step, arms swinging, and my little brother's right shoulder was sloped down at the exact angle in imitation of my Dad's, a result of the damage to the neck and shoulder muscle he sustained when wounded.

My mother, Margaret Norah Bubar, was born in Greenwood, BC, December 26, 1925, the fourth of six children. She grew up on her parents' ranch in Kettle Valley, BC. Her nickname was Bunty, given to her when she arrived home from hospital all bundled up and her three-year-old brother George said “bye, baby Bunting,” a popular English nursery rhyme. She was called Bunty all her life by family and close friends. To newer acquaintances, she was Marg. She and Dad married in Kettle Valley, BC, on Easter Monday,1948. Their honeymoon trip was the drive home to Dad's farm in Manitoba, from buttercups to mountains of snow.

Although she was a great housekeeper and loved knitting, most of Mum's favourite activities were outdoors. She was an avid swimmer, having learned from her mother in the Kettle River. She could beat most men who were foolish enough to accept the challenge of a race. She also lived for baseball and later took up curling and bowling. She pressured her children for grandchildren so that she would be eligible to curl in the Granny bonspeil. Luckily, the younger of my two brothers complied. Mum had walls of trophys. She also loved to fish and to play bingo. In their retirement years, they enjoyed travelling to visit family and to places like Reno and Las Vegas. As a widow, she travelled with a friend on a cruise to Australia. When she was diagnosed with Parkinsons, most of her pleasures were no longer attainable. She died in Vernon, BC, August 8, 1993.