Granny, Marion, Mom, suggested i post the second picture you see here, of My brother Randy and I, in VERY stylish mountie uniforms, sitting in our back yard, when the trees weren't much bigger than we were, with our friends, Jimmy and Johnny Quinton. I've mentioned them before, Jimmy was my age, Johnny was Randy's age. We spent a lot of time with them as playmates.I included the first picture because it was obviously taken on the same occasion, and i wanted y'all to see our swing set, and sandbox underneath.
So, with no further adieu, let me introduce the intended main portion of this post, Unohoo's comment:
is there a story behind one of the Quinton boys? i have heard some rumours there is. and why the mountie uniforms?
ReplyDeleteThere is a story behind one of the Quinton boys, though it's really about both of them. It's a very tragic and upsetting thing that happened, i'll touch on it in comments once Granny has had a chance to explain the mountie uniforms..for now, i'll say, Jimmy died a few years after these photos were taken.
ReplyDeleteOr, if she cares to relive the tragedy, Granny can tell you how Jimmy died. I was very attached to Jimmy, isn't red hair cool? ;-)
On second thought, Mom, could you cover the Jimmy story?
ReplyDeleteI don't really want to talk about it. I already had a nice cry today with the two youtube songs we enjoyed from the last post.
it's okay, you don't have to tell it. i'm sure I got the jyst of it.
ReplyDeleteWell.....I have one more person to visit teach, in about 10 minutes....then it will be supper time here. So right after supp I will get back to you with lots of news about the Quintons. Dodie (the mother of the Quinton clan)exchanges Christmas cards with me every year, same thing this year, and I think my children at least will be interested in their present-day lives. And Jimmie's tragic story I will tell you about too, also about how Jack Quinton got started in catering and how we helped him. So I will beg off until a little later tonight.
ReplyDeleteYour children will definitely be interested to hear how the Quintons are today. Have a nice dinner. Eat your veggies.
ReplyDeleteBack again...first of all the Mountie outfits, not being your usual wearables for kids, they were on sale somewhere way back then, and I bought two of them, since my two little boys Randy and Jeff were much the same size at that stage. These shots were taken the day I got them, the outfits I mean, not the kids....they wore them when we went to the park, or the mall, not really as play outfits. Just kinda cute and different, and the 4 boys played at Mounties and Bandits or something once in a while when our kids begged and pleaded to wear them.
ReplyDeleteThe Quintons moved to High River a couple of years after we came to that district, where we were all good friends, in Strathearn area in Edmonton. Jack Quinton was a big burly guy, who seemed to be the picture of health, but really only lasted a few years after they moved south. He had been working as a purchasing agent for the northern camps, and had done a little camp cooking as well. When he saw how successful our little catering operation was, he decided to start his own catering business when they moved to High River, and I helped him with such things as amounts, recipes, and he asked for a copy of our menus list, changed the headings and contact information, and used it as Quinton Catering, working out of their home in High River. A couple of years after they moved there, Jack made the BIG MISTAKE of leaving shells in one of the guns on his gun rack, in their basement rec room. Since little boys are fascinated with guns, Johnny and Jimmy figured a way to get the gun in question down out of the rack and were playing with it, Johnny pointing it at Jimmy in mock-play of stick-em-up, pulled the trigger and shot Jimmy dead on the spot. It was a terrible tragedy, just dreadful, and upset us and our family because we were so close to them shortly before it happened. Jack himself passed away just a few years later, and Dodie sold their home in High River and moved into the Bonavista area in Calgary, where she's lived ever since. The oldest boy Rob, married Connie (something) and they took over the catering equipment accumulated by Jack Q. and have made a living at it ever since, they now have five kids, 2 boys and three girls. Their youngest Tim is in grade 11. Two of the girls work in the same hospital, one a rec therapist and one an RN. The other boy is going to the U of C, his wife is an accountant. The third girl is a hair stylist. The family work very hard at their catering business, it's a busy job. John married a Debbie, she's a computer whiz for some Calgary firm, he is a real estate investor and renovations contractor. Three kids, youngest in Grade 11 too, a boy works at Safeway, and the girl works as a hair stylist. Debbie, (our Deb's friend)has lived on Salt Spring Island for donkey's years, she has two daughters, one lives 5 minutes away from Debbie, has two little boys. The other girl is an EMR in Medicine Hat. Debbie and her first hubby divorced a few years back, she remarried just last year to a best friend that has lived on Salt Spring almost all his life. Debbie and the daughter in Med Hat just had their knees operated on and were recovering at Christmas time. As for Dodie, last year was not a good one for her, as she got pneumonia and the drugs wiped out her immune system, so she has a chronic cold to add to the misery of her chronic cough, which she's had for 14+ yrs.She gave up taking ESL foreign students in her home after 8 years of doing so. Her last student was a Japanese boy, and they ended up great friends. As of December, Dodie had a 38 yr old male boarder, who's on AISH, HE'S BEEN ON CHEMO all the time he's been at her house, and the doctors have just given him a clean bill of health. His folks are building a home in Calgary, but he wants to stay with Dodie. She likes having company around the house and they get on very well. she's MOM to him now.
I know this is a very long comment, but I didn't know how to scrunch it down any shorter and still give you all the news from her Christmas letter. The end...aren't you glad?
Well that was all very interesting...thanks, Mother. It's so fun to hear what's become of people, isn't it.
ReplyDeletewow that's crazy what happened. I can't imagine the guilt he has to live with.
ReplyDelete