March, 1970

The family is settling into the new town. Calling it a town is actually a stretch as Bay Roche was a village of around 500 people. A town made slightly larger by our arrival. We were not the only family to arrive as three other families had moved to Bay Roche to help run the newly opened fish processing plant. Bay Roche was having a veritable population boom.

The new house was a two story eastern salt box with a steeped pitched roof. It was different only from most of the other houses in town in that it was slightly larger. Larger yes, but much smaller than the house we left behind. A smaller house meant sacrifices and none greater than siblings, previous used to having their own bedroom, were now forced to share. My oldest sister, citing seniority, claimed a small room as her own as did my older brother Ben. I got to bunk with my 10 month brother Matthew. Mary and Debrah, never civil to each other at the best of times had to share a room; a room easily found if you followed the distinct caterwauling of fighting sisters. My parents took the only bedroom on the main floor. But what the house lacked inside it made up for it on the outside. Behind the house was a natural playground. The back yard was created by cutting a shelf of land into the steep cliff behind the house. The yard was deep recess of a grassy land held back by a tall stone wall which was banked on either side by the natural slope of the cliff; each slope flowing into either side of the yard. The stone wall would prove great for climbing (and falling from). At the top of this wall grew a thick copse of spruce trees. In winter, we would discover, the slopes would be perfect for sledding. In summer, the cliffs and tress beyond the top of the wall were prime for exploring.

My grandparents were always around and so I was happier. There were very pleased about us being within walking distance now even if my mother was not happy to be there. This is the month I celebrated my second birthday and the party was held at my grandparent’s house. A lot of people from around town came by to meet my parents and from this gathering I made my first friend. He was a boy my age by the name of Mason and the only son of a young family. All in all, it was not a terrible way to begin one’s terrible two’s.

A song my sister danced with me at my second birthday and a hit from March, 1970
Lola, by The Kinks