Memories from Myra

by Myra Matthews

Now we all knew Dick was a farmer and lo and behold Marjorie being a new bride took her role very seriously, as the farmer’s wife. That was only until she fell  (Forgive me, Lord, but for what I'm about to say but for lack of a better word) off the shit wagon.

Not funny she fell but what happened next was funny. While in her cast she and Dick, both seniors, decided to go for a walk in the woods. Marjorie convinced Dick that it would be a good idea for him to piggyback her across the brook. In fact, it was a great idea until Dick tripped and fell; they both landed in the brook, soaked to the skin and Marjorie with a broken neck!

Then, there was the time Dick’s family came to Canada for a visit. They all went to the city to do some sightseeing, stopping at the Bedford Mall. Remember when Target was in Bedford….remember the big red balls in front of Target…. well, guess who pole vaulted over one of those balls, just like Grannie from “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Marj was certainly hitting 65 at the time and going 60 miles an hour when she crashed. This time a broken wrist.

Speaking of Dick’s family coming to Canada for a visit, before they arrived Marjorie and Dick bought a new couch and chair for the living room. When they tried to get their old couch out the front door it got jammed in the doorway and no matter how hard they tried it was stuck, and they couldn't budge it  - either in or out.

So, Dick had a brain wave. He got his tractor, wrapped a chain around the couch and proceeded to haul the couch outdoors. But in the process, he also hauled half the side of the house with it. What to do? What to do?

 Marjorie immediately applied for an emergency grant - she knew when applying for this grant it would not be a good idea to go into many details about what had actually happened. She got a hold of a casework and told him they were having company coming from England, that she had been doing little dusting and preparing for the visit. She continued that the door frame  and side of the house must have been rotten, because when she was dusting around the door one minute everything was good the next minute she and Dick were gazing up at the stars with no door, no door casing and a good hunk of the side of the house missing. Luckily, the grant was approved - they just had to send pictures.

On another note, Marjorie and I had one thing on our bucket list that we never achieved, but we tried! You see we wanted to cross the Bay on a boat so when I heard that Jason Harvey had a boat the he took out on the Bay I was so excited. This was our chance! I was too shy to ask myself, if he would take us out on a trip so I got my son, Jason, to ask for us.

We were in our 60s at this time in our life and the answer came back “Yes, I'll take them… BUT there cannot be a ripple in the Bay the day I take them. The last thing I want is to be marooned for 12 hours out there with those two.”  He also told Jason to tell us, “Oh yes, tell the old girls we will be making some backdoor stops along the way.” We figured that was fair enough but sadly it never came true.

We were full of antics and after 40 years, on the night of Marjorie and Dick’s wedding, I asked Marj, “ Did you ever find the keys to those handcuffs? (wink…wink) You could use them tonight you know!”

The stories don’t end here but a year almost to the day before Marjorie’s passing, she was in the Truro Hospital and asked to see Erma and I. Marj had just received the bad news it was the horrible big “C.”

In we went, along with our good friend Betty Densmore, and when Joanie, Marjorie’s sister saw us she almost ran out of Marjorie’s room; she couldn't leave fast enough. Later she apologized and said the stress of Marjorie’s news had just overwhelmed her and she had to get out of there - completely understandable.

Among hugs and tears Marjorie again asked me to write her eulogy and this time the answer was “Yes.” I groaned, if Joanie thought she was under stress before wait till she would get this news and the rest as they say is history.

The final curtain has closed for Marjorie and while she may have been a terrible influence on us, what a boring life we would have had without her.  Life was full for Marjorie and for each of us who shared in the stories that made up her life.