Life North of the 54th

Transcript

• 00:00 - Introductions
• 11:20 - From East to West
• 21:00 - Harry Balfour Secretary
• 30:00 - Some Additional Stories

00:00 - Introductions

Opening Theme Music:
[bass guitar riff]

Garett:
Welcome to Life North of the 54th. I'm Garett Brown.

Preston:
And I am Preston Brown. And we're pretty grateful to have you here joining us on our little show.

Jeannie:
Thank you for asking me. And here I am, Jeannie MacKinnon, still in Grande Prairie, wishing I could leave. But I'm still here. Came out here in 1968. I started off in Montreal 82 years ago, and I was born just as the war was beginning. And it wasn't my fault. I was just a baby. And then I was very sickly when I was little and ended up with polio and my mum was on her own. And then my dad passed away when he came back from the war in 1943. And so we moved, and we moved to everywhere. We lived in Ottawa, we lived in Hamilton, we lived in Northern Ontario and Haileybury. We lived in a little village called Fort-Coulonge, Quebec. And then we finally moved to Pembroke when I was ten in 1949. And then I went to school in Pembroke. And then I decided I wanted to go into nursing, so I did, and I moved to Ottawa. And I went through my nursing program and graduated from that in 1960. And in 1964, I decided I wanted to go back to Montreal where I was born. So I stayed there with some cousins and nursed there for a couple of years. And that was when I met Gerry. We dated for a couple of years, and then we got married and we decided to come west. It was the longest trip of my life. [laughs] We drove west and we came to Calgary. And we had met people at Expo 67 that we had kept in touch with. And when we arrived in Calgary, I had a job to go to at the Grace Hospital there. But the Calgary Stampede was on. So we decided we'd come up to Edmonton to see these friends and we decided we might stay in Edmonton. So we found an apartment and we both ended up having jobs. I went to work at the Edmonton General Hospital and Gerry found a job as an accountant with McCoy Brothers Spring and Steering in Edmonton, which I think is still there on 111th Avenue, 149th street.

Preston:
Yeah, it might be.

Jeannie:
Yeah, and then he changed jobs. An opening came up at Ferguson Supply and Ferguson Supply said they would move us to Grande Prairie. So we came to Grande Prairie. My mother thought and asked, oh, my goodness, do you have to go by dog team to Grande Prairie?

Garett:
[laughs]

Jeannie:
No, I don't think so. We flew up, found a house, and there was a freezing rainstorm and the planes were all canceled, so we couldn't get back to Edmonton. And the children, of course, Ian and Laura were both in Edmonton with friends. Anyway, we got back to Edmonton safely, made the decision to come. And the first trip up to Grande Prairie from Edmonton, I guess, was probably January of 1973. Laura was just a baby. She was only six months old. And we had to come across the ice at White Court because the bridge was out.

Garett:
Wow.

Jeannie:
So down under the bridge, cross on the ice and up to Grande Prairie. And there was not much in Grande Prairie! [ugh]

Garett:
[laughs]

Jeannie:
Population was about 11,000 at that time. And there was absolutely nothing to do. And I met a bunch of people through the Anglican Church and I said, we really need to get something going for mums. So I got in contact with the gal at the city that I still keep in touch with. She has now moved to Calgary, which is wonderful about Facebook because you can contact people from everywhere. Anyway, she came over for coffee one morning and I said, how about getting a mum's group together? So we started the first mothers out group for morning mothers. And there was a group of grandmas from the Anglican Church that would come and look after the little ones while the mothers would have coffee and have chat time and all that sort of thing. And that went on for a couple of years. And as I say, I stayed home for ten years with my babies. Heather was born in 75 and I was a busy mum. And when we came up here, we went to a barbecue out somewhere west on the Wapiti River at somebody's cottage. And I was complaining about how poorly the doctor's offices were run and how long you had to wait to see a doctor. And the next morning I got a call from Herb Janston, who was a surgeon at the hospital, saying, I want you to come and work for me. [ha] Well, in 1974, we bought a trailer and we drove to California and we were gone for the summer. And I came back and I was expecting Heather at that point. So I had to phone him and say, no, I can't come and work for you. Anyway, he asked me to do his typing at home. So I did all his medical typing for him and for Dr. Strelka and an eye specialist by the name of Don Quatrell. And I did that up until May after starting at the school in January of 1980. And the school and the kids and the staff and everybody became my family in that 26 and a half years. And then the Browns arrived!

Garett:
How unfortunate. [chuckles]

Jeannie:
I can't remember what year you actually came to Grande Parade. Do you?

Garett:
'97.

Jeannie:
'97?

Preston:
It was April 1997. Yup. I remember because it was shortly before my fifth birthday.

Jeannie:
I remember you arriving and I will never forget that day in June. Laura at that time was in Calgary and your mom came to the school that day to register Katie for kindergarten. Do you guys know that story?

Garett:
No, I know the later half of the day. I don't know the beginning of the day.

Preston:
Yeah, I don't.

Garett:
Do you mean the day that our mom passed?

Jeannie:
Well, I had met your mom before because she'd come to the school with forgotten lunches and heaven only knows what.

Garett:
[chuckles] Oh children.

Jeannie:
She was a sweet girl, but she came that day and it was so strange. And I looked back on it and I still can't figure it out. But anyway, she asked me how my daughter was in Calgary and I said she's fine. She said she has a little girl, doesn't she? And I said yes she does. And she said, oh, wouldn't it be nice if she were closer? And I said yeah, but she's okay in Calgary. We go down to see her and she comes home when she can. And the last words out of Kim's mouth, God works in mysterious ways, she might be home before you know it. And as you know, 4 hours later she passed away. And the next morning when I went into school and everybody was sad and long faces. What happened? You didn't hear about Mrs. Brown and I went no, because I had just gotten to school that morning at 08:00 or whatever. Well, Mrs. Brown passed away last night. And from that moment on, I knew from that exact moment I knew that somehow Laura and Ron would get together. I had no idea how, when, why nothing. But I knew it. And then of course, Leona Curry got a hold of your dad. I know a girl in Calgary. [imitates conversation, chuckles] Anyway, so your dad called me shortly after school began or maybe just before school began and asked for your mom's phone number. And that was in September. Laura had come home for her birthday in July and she said, oh, I should go out there and introduce myself. I said if you want to take the car and go, by all means, whatever. And then she decided no, it was too soon. And so your dad finally got the courage to call her. And then I heard from the teachers at the school that the Brown children's grandmother was working in the office at Harry Balfour.

Garett:
[laughs]

Jeannie:
And then your dad took you all out of school the following week? No, I guess it was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving weekend Laura came home and I picked her up at the airport. And your dad pulled up in front of the house on 110th Avenue at the same time I was coming back with Megan from park at Avondale and walked into the house. And that was when the first time they met face to face because they had done all the talking and dating and courting and whatever on the phone for a good month.

Garett:
Yeah.

Jeannie:
And then Laura went back to Calgary and your dad went down the following weekend to Edmonton and she came up on the bus to Edmonton and stayed with the Joneses. I mean it was a whirlwind romance.

Garett:
Yeah.

Jeannie:
All the way.

Garett:
I recall my dad saying that when he first met her he said that he'd never dated someone so tall before.

Jeannie:
Oh yeah, that was the first words out of his mouth when she stood up.

Garett:
Yup.

Jeannie:
Because your mum was pretty little gal. She wasn't that tall.

Garett:
Yes, I recall going down as well to Calgary sometime, I think it was before Halloween. We went to the Calgary Zoo altogether.

Jeannie:
Halloween activities at the churches down there.

Garett:
It was a pretty great experience.

Preston:
Yup.

Jeannie:
And that was when I guess, your dad proposed or whatever. And so that was the end of October, and then Christmas came and all of you came for Christmas.

Garett:
Yeah, that was October and Christmas of 1999, right?

Jeannie:
Yeah. And then the wedding plans. Oh, my goodness. It's hard to believe that 20 years have gone by, really, when you look back. And of course, then Gerry got so sick and God works in mysterious ways, that's for sure.

Preston:
He sure does.

11:20 - From East to West

Preston:
And I got a question, Grandma. What led you and Gerry to move west to Alberta from Montreal? What kind of led up to that decision? That's a pretty big decision.

Jeannie:
Well, we always talked about moving west a lot, and then Gerry left his job in Montreal and we lived in Kemptville, Ontario, south of Ottawa, for six months. And that was in preparation to come west. And I nursed part time at the hospital in Kemptville. It was just a little village then. It's grown to quite the size of the city. But we always just thought that we wanted to come west and start a new life out in the west. Looking back, I'm not 100% sure that was the most positive thing to do. The children, when they finally did arrive, they grew up without their aunts and uncles and grandparents, and I think that has had a big effect on them in the long term. Ian and Heather are quite okay in Vancouver, it's expensive as can be to live out there, but they're doing okay. They've done well. And then Laura, of course, is still here, but I don't know for how long because they're planning on this big move south, right?

Garett:
Isn't that everybody dream, who lives in Northern Alberta to move back south?

Jeannie:
Well, the part I find hard is that I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that I was still working. I never got to spend the time with my grandchildren that I wanted to. And time has passed, and that's what happens, I guess, in life. But out here you hear negative things and stories about the people in the east. In the east, you think about the west being so friendly and wide open spaces and everything else. We don't have the wide open spaces out here that we thought there were when we were in the east, but we wanted to come west. We were starting out. We were young, so we made the decision and came and it wasn't a bad decision. Looking back, we took as many trips as possible as we could going back east every year, pretty much after we came out here. And I always hated leaving the east, coming back west. But then my mum was getting older as well, and then she moved from Montreal to Pembroke. That's where she lived out the rest of her life. And I guess I'll be living out the rest of my life here in Grande Prairie. I can't see any way of moving. Anyway, there were other questions you sent me. I can't remember what they were.

Garett:
Yeah, you mentioned that it was the longest trip you made going to Alberta because that was the first time that you drove to Alberta. All the other times you had flown, is that right?

Jeannie:
No. That was the first time we drove or we didn't fly, we drove.

Garett:
Okay.

Jeannie:
We left 14 China packed boxes and four winter tires in the apartment and we told the movers, we will let you know when we get to where we're going, when we find out. [chuckles] And so we left all that and we drove and it was quite the trip.

Garett:
Yeah. Preston and I have made the drive from Toronto to Grande Prairie, and it's a long drive, and that was on modern roads.

Jeannie:
It is a long drive. When you leave Grande Prairie to drive east and you drive out of Alberta into Saskatchewan, across Manitoba, no problem. You hit the Ontario border and it's like you've hit a brick wall because you're tired and you haven't gone anywhere!

Garett:
[laughs]

Jeannie:
You're not even close to where you want to go.

Garett:
No.

Jeannie:
You've got another good two days drive to get to Ottawa, the Ottawa Valley, or anywhere.

Garett:
It was certainly one of the things that astonished me the most, driving from Toronto to Grande Prairie, that it was 18 hours just to drive to Thunder Bay, and that was basically halfway. It's quite astonishing, especially when growing up in Alberta, where you drive 18 hours, especially east to west. You made it from Grande praises Thunder Bay already.

Preston:
Yeah.

Jeannie:
And then when you look in the UK and it's 800 miles from the north of Scotland to the south of England, that is nothing in comparison to here and 100 miles across the widest part of Britain, you know? 100 miles across, and that's it! That's barely as far as from here to Valley View.

Garett:
Were you excited at first to be like going to Grande Prairie? You're saying that you moved to Edmonton and then Gerald got a job that they sent him to Grande Prairie. Were you excited to go to Grande Prairie or were you sort of hesitant because it seemed like such a small place?

Jeannie:
Apprehensive. I had two little children. Ian was two and Laura was six months when we came to Grande Prairie. And as I say, there was nothing here, but I got really involved in the Church and kids all went to Sunday school and we were a busy busy family and that was good. And Grande Prairie was a good place to grow with your kids because there were so many new people coming here from everywhere all the time.And Grande Prairie has been good, for the most part. I never dreamed as a young girl that I'd end up out here. [chuckles]

Garett:
Did you move through different houses while you were in Grande Prairie?

Jeannie:
In Grande Prairie?

Garett:
Yeah. How long did you stay? Like, living in the Avondale area?

Jeannie:
Well, we bought the house on 85th Avenue and we managed to stay there. Then Gerry quit his job at the College and another job was not in the works for him. I guess. So we moved into Ranch Land Apartments down on the South Side. We lived there for the better part of a year, and then we moved into the house that became available on 110th Avenue, close enough to walk to school and everything. And the kids were able to walk to McDonald's to work. They didn't often walk, but it was close enough for them to walk. And then, of course, after Gerry passed, moved from there to the muck-tuck apartment. And then in 2004, I moved in here to Brodie Manor. And that was a good move.

Garett:
That's good. I remember helping you move into Brodie Manor.

Jeannie:
Yeah, I remember you all helping move me from the house on 110th into the muck-tuck.

Preston:
I remember.

Jeannie:
That was on Preston's birthday. I'll never forget that.

All:
[chuckle]

Garett:
So kind of you to be so generous with one of your birthdays at Preston.

Preston:
You know, I don't remember the specifics of that day. Even though I've had the least amount of birthdays here. I heard that doctors highly recommend birthdays. The more that you have, the longer that you live.

Jeannie:
Yeah, that's true. I never dreamed I'd make it to 80. My mum lived till she was 88. My dad died very young at 43.

Garett:
A month or so ago, I found that I think this coming December 1st, I'll be as old as Kim when she passed.

Jeannie:
Yup, she was 31.

Garett:
Yep.

Jeannie:
She was too young.

Garett:
It was hard for us, but I think my life has turned out so much better having Laura in my life. It's really hard to say, right? Losing somebody is always hard, but having the life experience that I've had, it's been... I wouldn't ask for something else. It's really made me who I am.

Jeannie:
Well, I tried to raise my three kids to be self sufficient and self confident. I think I did a pretty good job looking at them now. They've all gone through a lot too. But for Laura to take on your dad's crew up six [aahh] and she was only what, 29, 30? Twenty-eight I guess when she and your dad got married. That was a lot for her to take on.

Garett:
Yeah.

Preston:
You know, as a young kid, I did not appreciate nor understand all the difficult workings of the adult world that went to make things work for us when I was a young kid in those years. But the older I got, I really grew a sense of gratitude.

Garett:
I later came to understand, additionally, on top of the incredible undertaking to go from raising one child to raising seven children, and then eight to also go into the difficulty it is to blend families together, which is always very hard. Even like, the environment was so different. The Laura came to us to meet us where we were and the places that we were struggling and to help us. Like even some simple things to use the pots and pans that we had that she wasn't familiar with or that they weren't hers or that they were Kim's. It would be an incredibly difficult thing that I greatly appreciate. And I don't think I can ever fully understand. So, grandma, like, thank you for raising her to be so amazing.

Jeannie:
She's got a heart bigger than the moon. I think it was all in God's plan, Garett, because I don't know what I would have ever done without Ron and Laura here when I needed them so badly in 2002, when Gerry needed them and I needed them. It was all God's plan. Everything in life, in every day of your life is in God's plan. I know that you have different beliefs than I do, and that doesn't matter. I mean, I was born and raised in Anglican. I guess I'll probably die an Anglican, but God's goodness prevails.

Garett:
I think I have definitely seen the miracles God in my life, and I'm pretty grateful for it.

21:00 - Harry Balfour Secretary

Preston:
So, grandma, what led you to the position of Secretary of the school? How did you end up there?

Jeannie:
I had been at home for ten years with my babies, and the gal that worked in the library said, there's a job coming open at the school. You should apply for it. And I said, I don't want to go to work. Well, she said, you would do an awesome job in that office. So after much coercion, I did phone Mel Larson, the principal, and he said, sure, come on in for an interview and bring a resume. And so I did. And Mary Phelps had been the secretary for 14 years, and she had a heart attack and had to go on medical leave, and she wouldn't be back to the school. Anyway, it was between myself and another gal by the name of Pat Batrom, whoever she is, I don't know. Anyway, I didn't want to go to work. I honestly did not. I was happy at home with my babies. And Heather was just going to turn five in March, and this was December. And so anyway, this principal, Mel Larson, he hired this other woman, Pat Batrom, to work. And so she worked the ten days before Christmas. She hated the job. She hated the interruptions in the office. She hated all the confusion, the constant everything. And so she quit. She worked ten days before Christmas and quit. So my friend Mildred said, guess what? The woman he hired quit. He's going to call you. And I thought, okay, and he did. And so then I had to arrange care for Heather. And I had told another gal that was going to go back to work, that I would look after her little girl. So between two neighbors across the street and up the street a little bit, they agreed to take both of the girls and look after them and away I went to work, and I ended up staying for 26 and a half years. And everything was done on a typewriter, all the student records. So we had long legal sheets of paper. And every family that came in, you'd put two or three, four families on a page with their age and their birthdays and their addresses and their parent's names and their siblings. And so a family would leave and you'd have to retype the whole page. And I said, this is kind of dumb. And of course, Ian was in grade five at the time, I guess, and was really into computers and technology. And he said, mom, there's an easier way to do that. You need to get a database. So he explained a database. Showed me how it works. And then we got the first computer at the school, and I started converting all the information off these pages into a computer. And that was a big job, doing 700 kids that way.

Garett:
Yeah.

Jeannie:
But that system grew and grew and grew. And then it was easy to take a family out and put a family in. I guess I was the one that built that first database for the school. [chuckles] And then I shared it with all the other county's secretaries, and they all got their systems up and going, and it's a huge experience, a huge learning curve. So then we started out on the Apple II computer, and then we went to a Mac, and then they brought in the IBM PCs. And I had to learn more again.

Garett:
Yup.

Jeannie:
Just different ways of doing stuff. And I remember saying, I don't know how to merge this information so I can print certificates with all these kids in science fair. [chuckles] Ian said to me, Mum, if it's that difficult, send it to me, and I'll do it or read the book. So I went back to the computer and I had the book beside me, and I thought, Ian can do this for me, but I'm going to do it. And I did it. I figured it out. It took forever, but when it worked, it was wonderful.

Garett:
It's always the promise of computers, isn't it? That when it works, it's wonderful.

Jeannie:
Yeah. And I mean, it's just I've got this new iPhone and I've got a new iPad on order at Best Buy. It's supposed to be here eventually. And when they work, it's wonderful. But technology is growing so fast that everything changes, and you have to keep updating, updating, updating. Even with the student record system at the school, some of the secretaries would call me and I say, [grrr] I can't get this to work. And I said, did you do the last update? No. I said, we'll do the last update first, then figure it out.

Garett:
You turn it off and on again. [chuckles]

Jeannie:
I don't know. [coughs] I have a cyst growing on my larynx in my throat and I cough and it tickles.

Garett:
No worries. It's pretty easy to just edit out the coughing, so don't feel too bad about it.

Jeannie:
I need a glass of water. So I got to take the phone with me. I saw Doctor Wong the other day and they said the cyst doesn't look like it's growing, so that's good. And I get winded and I get really tired. I don't have the energy that I used to have. And then people say, well, you are 82, but age shouldn't make a difference. Not in my head anyway. But I'm in my 83rd year now. Ahh! I want to scream, Stop the clock!

Garett:
Yeah. Maybe as our friend would say, maybe it's just your 63rd year living as a 20 year old.

Jeannie:
[laughs] Yeah. I keep thinking about all those years that I was at the school. Somebody asked me on Facebook the other day, how many children did you have? I've never asked you that. And I said I had a son and two daughters and 600 to 700 kids at Harry Balfour for school for 26 and a half years. [laughs] And I get more conversations. No wonder I don't get anything done around here! I get more conversations with former students that send me messages. Hi, how are you doing? And they send me pictures of their children and their skiing trips and all the fun things they're doing. For my 80th birthday two years ago, all those people that came from the school and there were only a couple of students that came, but very precious students, right? But they came. But I get more hits on Facebook. Anything I post on Facebook, I get so many comments. It's not funny. But I get messages constantly. Like Brian that lived beside Jim in England. He's on here. My friend Lauren Hunt that used to live here is now living in Canora, Ontario. Janine Larson, who used to live here, is now living in Ottawa. [chuckles] Just look at all these people. And I'm going, oh, my gosh. Nephew in Montreal just had a birthday yesterday and a friend, Carol Nelson in Calgary. I need to get back in touch with her. And then Jamie Armor. He's a computer techie that used to work at Microsoft Computers over here. He's now working for the government, monitoring computers or whatever, measuring the amount of carbon dioxide that's coming out of the ground from the oil wells and whatnot. And he's always chatting like it's crazy.

Garett:
You're so popular,

Jeannie:
Yeah. It seems that way sometimes. And yet sometimes the phone never buzzes at all. And that's okay, too. Then I sleep! [laughs] Anyway.

Garett:
Yeah. I imagine the number of years you worked as a Secretary at the school, you must have many connections on Facebook.

Jeannie:
It's amazing! A day never goes by. I mean, I can be uptown shopping and some young man will come along and pick me up by the shoulders or put their arms around me and give me a hug and swing me around and I'm going, who is this? [chuckles] And it's happened a few times, several times, especially when I was out working for the lawyers. And I would be in and out of banks and in and out of stores and in and out of lawyer's offices and everywhere. And it would happen and I would turn around and say, I can't remember your name. Well, that's okay, we remember you. But I don't know as long as you make a good impact on people as you meet them.

Garett:
But I guess as principals and teachers changed over the years at Harry Balfour, you were there and were sort of the consistency for the kids through their time, going from teacher to teacher, classroom to classroom, going on. And you're always there. So you definitely made an impact on a lot of kids.

Jeannie:
There were a lot of kids that came to the office and had personal problems and some of them cried. Some of them needed a hug. You don't do that in schools anymore, apparently. [chuckles] And I think that's what the schools are missing.

Garett:
And maybe some good scotch mints.

30:00 - Some Additional Stories

Garett:
We're really glad to hear your story. There are many of the stories that I have never heard before. And so thank you for sharing.

Jeannie:
I'm just looking back at those questions. How was the journey to your destination? [laughs] Long!

Preston:
Yup.

Jeannie:
I thought the peace country was quite different. We went up to Hudson Hope one time on a drive. I guess I was probably, maybe before I was 40. And we went on a tour of the dam up there and there was a picture of St. Peter's Anglican Church on the wall, founded by the pioneers in 1939. And I went, oh, my goodness, pioneers. I was born that year! [aahh]

Garett:
Yeah. So you were a pioneer too then?

Jeannie:
I guess so, of sorts. And I remembered going camping with girl guides. Got stuck in the mud on the way back from Sturgeon Lake, Young's Point down that way somewhere. And the mud, we got stuck so badly. Had to have a farmer pull us out.

Garett:
Yeah. The mud is rough. It's one thing that I don't think I'll ever miss from the Peace Country is the mud.

Jeannie:
Oh, the mud. No, it's pretty sandy down in the Ontario. Have you travelled?

Garett:
In Toronto itself. I haven't been out of Toronto that much because I've been studying a lot. But in Toronto I never see the mud because everything is concrete.

Jeannie:
If you ever get a chance to take a drive up to Pembroke on the Ottawa River, go. It's beautiful on the river. I think your mom and dad, your dad anyway, was pretty impressed with the size of the Ottawa River when we went to Montreal in 2012 with Gerry's Ashes. It's pretty wide. Yeah. The weather in Alberta is not ever like it was in Ontario and Quebec. I mean, it was cold there and damp, but at -40 here you can still go out and dress for the weather. If it hit -40 in the east, the humidity, the dampness would go through you so, so fast you would be just freezing. It would be more like -50 with a windchill of -70 out here.

Garett:
So how are your feelings for the Peace Country changed over time?

Jeannie:
I still miss the red maple leaves at this time of the year. And I miss the lakes and rivers that you can swim in in the east, which we don't have out here. I don't care, Lake Saskatoon is not a lake to go swimming in!

Preston:
It's not.

Garett:
Yes. Having lived in Toronto for a while now, I completely agree. Growing up and learning about Canada and learning about maple trees and maple syrup and all this stuff and sort of the traditions around maple syrup festivals in Upper and Lower Canada and just being in the north and there's just no maple trees because it's just too harsh for them to grow in. To be here in the east and to have the fall come and have the leaves turn such brilliant red and really get to experience that. I kind of understand why people love it.

Jeannie:
Exactly.

Garett:
Yeah, it's nice.

Jeannie:
Right now everybody out here is raving about how beautiful and golden the leaves are on the trees, and all I can think about are the red maples.

Garett:
Yup.

Preston:
Yes, it is a different kind of beauty. All the gold poplar in the birch among the spruce trees. But I have always wanted to go to Eastern Canada and United States in the autumn and see the oaks and the maples and all the various colors of fall there.

Jeannie:
I'm sure you've seen pictures of the red maples shining on the lake.

Garett:
But you do get in the north, like in the boreal forest there, you get the tamarax, which are the needle trees that they turn that vibrant yellow, and then they just drop tens of thousands of needles on the floor. Those are fantastically, brilliant trees. I do miss the tamarax.

Preston:
Yeah. I really think it's fascinating that everybody has an individual and personal story. Life stories are always so interesting. It was really great to hear you're part of your life story today, Grandma. There are all sorts of records in this world, but we each make our own individual little record in history.

Garett:
Yeah, we really appreciate it.

Jeannie:
Well, that was kind of fun. I've got albums. If I went through my albums, I could probably talk for hours and hours about the pictures and the albums. [laughs]

Garett:
I think perhaps maybe we should do that sometime then. I guess a picture is a thousand words.

Preston:
So wonderful to catch up, Grandma, and have you share your stories with us.

Jeannie:
Hopefully next time you're out this way. We'll see you, Garett.

Garett:
Yup.

Jeannie:
Next time you're out this way, Preston. Hope we see you too.

Preston:
Yup.

Jeannie:
Because our traveling days, I think, are pretty much done.

Preston:
Yeah. Well, you take care of grandma. And you stay safe with grandpa Jim there. Try and stay out of trouble.

Jeannie:
Yeah, grandpa Jim you're supposed to stay safe. We don't go anywhere he says. [laughs] Okay.

Garett:
Thanks, grandma. It's been great talking with you.

Preston:
Yeah, you take care.

Jeannie:
Fun seeing you guys. Thanks for thinking of me.

Garett:
No worries. We love you, grandma.

Jeannie:
Love you, too.

Ending Theme Music:
[bass guitar riff with drumbeat]