A FAMILY AFFAIR

My mother. How could I forget her. I can't and wouldn't

want to. Imagine her, a young woman from Toronto's trendy old

Rosedale who goes to church one Sunday morning to discover

there's a young Anglican priest preaching from the pulpit.

She discovers he was Nathanael Clarke Wallace from

the small village of Woodbridge.

What did she do?

She introduced herself.

And fell in love with him.

Then what?

She married him.

Along came a daughter, Ann (who added an 'e' to it herself)

followed by a brother Nathanael Clarke Wallace 3. That's me.

Writer's comment: I remember thinking, or even saying

to my wife, Rosanne when she was having a baby, we'll

have to pick a name for him. George, Jack or...

She stared at me.

"What the hell is that all about?" she shot back.

"He already has a name. Nathaniel Clarke Wallace 4. So

live with it, Clarke!"

Amen to that.