Last week, as the first hints of orange appeared on the trees and the last rays of summer sun beamed, we moved my mother out of the place we have called home for more than 60 years.
The house in Châteauguay was the second residence we lived in after arriving in Canada from Holland in 1967. And it was the first home my parents bought at a price that would make young families today shake their heads in disbelief. We had spent our first year in Quebec in another house, rented from an NHL hockey player.
My brother and I grew up in that second house, playing street hockey and hide and seek with friends, attending birthday parties and learning to speak English and some basic French. We rode our bikes to nearby fields and climbed trees in apple orchards that have long since been developed into new neighbourhoods.
Every street in Châteauguay brings back a memory: the elementary school where I had my first crush on a boy named Bobby; the hill where I crashed my first bicycle because I hadn’t yet learned how to brake properly; the high school where I played basketball with friends; the depanneur where we would stop to buy bubble gum and chips on our walks home after basketball practice while our mothers were busy preparing dinner at home.
The other day I was driving my mother around to do some errands, and we decided to visit the area where my uncle first welcomed us to Canada and put us up in his home for a month. I took pictures of his old house and others nearby where we’d played with other kids or were invited to family barbecues. Those memories reminded me of how happy we were to be welcomed to this country.
My mother’s house may soon be sold and I’m sure we’ll feel sad when we close the front door for the last time. I hope whoever buys it will also fill our old house with love, laughter, music and conversation, as we did for six decades.
Being close to the Châteauguay River, we could see and hear the Canada Geese fly overhead every spring and fall. Last week they passed over again. The seasons are changing – for all of us. All we can ever do is hang on to good memories and be grateful if the sun still shines upon us.
Caroline Van Vlaardingen
CTV Montreal News Anchor