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Agnes Hewitt. The Seventh Child
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: PLUM COULEE, MANITOBA
THE BEGINNING. My Unheralded Birth
Our Grandmother Braun
CHAPTER II: STE. ELIZABETH, MANITOBA
Play
My Little Sister Kathleen
The Inner Child
Fun and Games
Baby Abe
Neighbours
CHAPTER III: HOCHSTADT, MANITOBA
Baby David
Neighbors
Pig Killing Time
The War Years: 1939-1945
Fawn (Flicka)
Brother Ben
Baby Lydia
Washing Days
Running Water
Lamp Light
Dorothy’s Social Life
Wedding Plans
Wedding Bells
Life Without Dorothy
John and Dorothy and Boys
Can You Imagine?
Outdoor Backhouse
Our Hundred Sheep
The Hochstadt School
Little Brother Henry
CHAPTER IV: GIROUX
Neighbours
Wedding Bells, Again!
Canning Factory at St. Catherines, Ontario
Two Little Lost Boys and a Dog
CHAPTER V: MACGREGOR, MANITOBA
Sister Lydia’s Illness
MacGregor Community Mennonite Church
More Wedding Bells
Lydia's Illness WORSENED
CHAPTER VI: STEINBACH, MANITOBA
The Dark Shadow in Our Home
CHAPTER VII: THICKET PORTAGE SCHOOL
My First Permit Teaching School
CHAPTER VIII SUMMER SCHOOL AND TOLSTOI SCHOOL
MORE EDUCATION & REIMERS’ DEPARTMENT STORE
WINNIPEG JOBS AND FRIENDS
CHAPER IX: WEDDINGS BELLS GALORE
Where There Is Love
Nieces and Nephews
CHAPTER X: GRADUATION FROM TEACHER’S COLLEGE
GRADUATION FROM TEACHERS’ COLLEGE
GROSSE ISLE SCHOOL
DUGALD SCHOOL
Forgive Your Father
Dating Service
THE CROSSROADS
Long Plains School
The Scary Night in the Teacherage
CHAPTER XI: THE DEATH WATCH
OUR PARENTS’ PASSING
CHAPTER XII: WEDDING PREPARATIONS AND FAST FORWARD
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX. Our Parent’s Story
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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To my surviving siblings, nieces and nephews, children and grandchildren, their spouses and potential spouses:
Many ideas of my writings have been taken from the book, HOW TO WRITE YOUR LIFE STORY by KAREN ULRICH. In fact, many statements in my introduction are direct quotes from her book: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREATING A PERSONAL MEMOIR.
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Our mother hailed from Bergthaler Mennonites. She and her siblings all attended public school and were well versed in the English language. My mother and her sisters (my aunts), never wore anything different in dress other than those seen in the Eaton’s catalogue or in pattern stores. My generation also did not wear weird clothes as was the custom in some Mennonite denominations. Mother taught us to pray, have faith, and to believe in salvation by grave through faith.
Mother liked to sing and whistle all day long while she did housework. She would pinch money from shipping cream checks in order to buy a gramophone (the kind we had to crank) and records for us to use. She taught us all to love music. I remember whenever a new record arrived at our house, we would all squat on the floor and write down words of each song. When we thought we had captured them all by comparing with each other, we would belt them out Wilf Carter style. One day mother said to me, “If I couldn't sing, I could never get through these hard times.” She sang a variety of German and English hymns but also some classics like “The Lorelei” which she sang in German. I also remember my siblings and I sitting in a circle of chairs and taking turns each calling out our favorite hymn numbers out of a hymn book we all had copies of. Later my brothers bought guitars and learned to play and sing along.
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