Manitoba
May 14, 2024
I woke early (5:15 am) to set out for points east. I dubbed this my time machine trip. It allowed me to reconnect with people and revisit places that shaped me.
My plane landed and Linda was there to meet me.
In 1985, my friendship with Linda began when we enrolled in the University of Winnipeg's Child Care Worker Training Program. The program crammed two years of study into eighteen months. It combined theory with hands-on experience. Linda and I have been friends ever since.
While in Winnipeg, I planned to stay with Linda, her husband, their cat Sassy, and their dog Finn. I arrived at Linda's a bundle of excitement and nerves. Finn met me with his own bundle. The two bundles exploded and Finn told me I would have to find somewhere else to stay. I respected his opinion and set to work to find a solution to my problem.
photo by Marjorie
Marjorie and me
Marjorie--my aunt by marriage--generously opened her doors and welcomed me into her guest bedroom. By the time the dust had settled and I lay my exhausted body down and closed my eyes, it was midnight. There was little of May 14 that I hadn't experienced.
May 15
Susan was my best friend in elementary school. We've lost touch and reconnected periodically throughout our lives. When had we last chatted face-to-face? I couldn't remember but Susan did--in 1994, Susan and I had visited in her mom's living room. Recently, we reconnected again. Thanks to Facebook. Winnipeg's Stella's restaurant was the setting for our long overdue face-to-face chat. We invited Linda to jon us and the three of us shared laughter and memories for six hours. Six hours. Yes, we had a lot to catch up on.
May 16
I treated Linda and myself to a slice each of Vegan Oreo Chocolate Cake at Baked Expectations--a bakeshop in Osborne Village.
Osborne Village holds cherished memories for me. In 1990, as a new couple, Byron and I moved into a second-floor apartment there. We lived in that apartment building (River Crescent Gardens) for about three years and our love strived in that artsy, funky neighbourhood.
May 17
My middle brother Randy drove me to Eriksdale, Manitoba.
I was born in Eriksdale's first hospital. My dad was born in Eriksdale, as well. My grandfather was one of the first settlers. Two of my three brothers still live there. Simply put, I have deep roots in Eriksdale.
While in Eriksdale, I stayed on my oldest brother Rick's and my sister-in-law Val's farm.
having ice cream at Havakeen Lunch. I pay tribute to Havakeen in this short story...
My mom let me go. I'm not sure I would have had I been the mother. I was so young crossing that road--a major highway, semis sped down. But Mom let me go knowing it was a child's rite of passage. I never remember her taking me. I do remember her calling, "Be careful crossing the road."
I headed to a white building with a sign that read: 'Hav-A-Keen Lunch'. Keen was like cool, back then. The business--a mom and pop truck stop--was shared by the Havards and the Keens, hence the name.
A bell rang when the screen door slammed shut behind me.
Sometimes she popped out of the back, where she lived. Sometimes she was wiping the counter. She always greeted me with a smile.
"Hi, Mrs. Havakeen."
Maybe she tried to correct me. Maybe she said, "Just call me Mrs. Keen." Maybe she added a dear to show me she wasn't mad. I don't remember. I do remember her asking, "What'll you have?"
I dumped a handful of coins on the counter--pennies, dimes, nickels, and a quarter. "What will this buy?"
"A chocolate bar, pop, an ice cream cone..."
"A rainbow ice cream cone, please," I said spring, summer, fall--never winter, the road was too slippery.
Mrs. Keen dipped the spoon in a bucket of water and then into the pail. A large box with a child holding a triple scoop cone hung on the wall. She pulled a cone from the box, filled it with ice cream and handed it to me.
Rainbow ice cream: swirls of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and mint. Why choose one favour when you can have them all? Rainbow. It was like eating a better tomorrow.
I always made it home safe and sound. Sometimes with rainbow ice cream dripping down my arm--melting under the hot sun.
Did Mrs. Keen know how important she was to me? Did she know how special she made me feel? I like to think she did.
May 20
Rick, Val and I spent most of the day in the car. We drove to St. Rose du Lac (north of Eriksdale). I treated everyone to breakfast. We came back by way of Portage la Prairie. The landscape changed during our drive from rocks and swamps to Lake Manitoba's great expanse to rolling hills and fertile land.
