LOOKING BACK

Do you ever get the feeling, no matter where you are

in life, things haven’t been so good? Or do you

look back, shrug and break into a grin.

You weigh it for what it was. The good times, the not so

good times. What about me flunking out of Grade 13

at Appleby College passing only two subjects out of nine.

Both English. Literature and Composition. And being told

by family I’d better go find a job.

What a quiet, desperate time. No thought of following

in my father’s footsteps. He was an Anglican clergyman.

It never dawned on me to become a minister. Nor did

my dad expect me to. I remember him saying,

“ You do what you want, son, and I’ll be happy.”

I went instead to high school, in Port Colborne, Ontario. My sister,

Anne and husband, Dr. David Storey invited me to live with them

and repeat grade 13 at the local high school. They’d only been

married two months when I moved in.

AUTHOR’S COMMENT: What a great dad I had. I will always

remember him, a rector of St. Nicolas Church in Toronto’s east end.

I can see me as a kid at the back of the church on Sundays handing

out prayer books as members of the congregation arrived.

During his sermon he stood at the pulpit and never looked

down at his notes. If he had any.

My dad was born in Woodbridge, Ontario. I lived abroad

for a while in France. I'm in Woodbridge now and have lived here

for many years. My wife Rosanne and I have a son,

Nathaniel C. Wallace. The fourth. He’s in Public Relations.

Wow. how time flies.

I 'm adding a photo (below) how it looks from our house.

Spring is coming. You can feel it. A slight warmth in the air.

I'll show you how these same trees take on a different look

a few weeks from now.

(Rosanne Wallace photo)