Thursday, July 18, 2024
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When my family and I moved to Dartmouth I did not know that I would meet my two lifelong friends Debbie and Eileen. It was 1967 and we met in September at Hawthorne School starting Grade 2. So much time has gone by, and we have lived through all the highs and lows that life has to offer, and we supported each other through it all. I have many memories of the three of us and of the times Debbie and I spent together. When Debbie and her family lived on James Street, we used to play badminton in the backyard – had no net but it did not matter. We had fun just the same. Debbie’s bedroom was in the attic and the perimeter of the room was lined with many different coloured and shaped liquor bottles. We would read our separate Harlequin romance novels while listening to the radio. I remember David Cassidy’s “I Think I Love You” and especially remember the feeling of contentment sharing time with Debbie. When the family moved to Pleasant Street, we were old enough that we could venture farther and made many Saturday trips taking the ferry to Scotia Square to hang out and sometimes shop. We had double dates to the theatre on Portland Street – only one movie showing at a time back then! We liked to dance and when visiting at Eileen’s danced to K-Tel records – “Candida” and “Knock Three Times.” On March break 1973, we crashed Mark’s (Debbie’s oldest brother) party at Pleasant Street and that was where I met my future husband, Jeff. When we were teenagers, we started exchanging Xmas gifts (ordering from the under $10 page in the Sears Christmas catalogue) and continued all these years. During covid (Eileen now living in Toronto) we would leave our gifts on the doorstep and then use Facetime to open our gifts. During high school Debbie and I started volunteer work at the Nova Scotia Hospital, spending time with the children who lived there. Debbie met her future husband Kevin there as he was working as an orderly. Eventually I had a part time job at the hospital and when there was nothing to do, Debbie would pick me up to go to her place for a swim and then bring me back to finish up my shift. Debbie and her siblings were expected to go to church until they turned 19. I would go on walks with Debbie and then we would sneak in during the church service and sit at the back. We would end up laughing over this or that – the best silent laughs ever! When Kevin and Debbie were married and living on Caledonia Road, Jeff and I spent New Year’s Eve visiting and playing cards. Skipping ahead a few years Debbie was godmother to our oldest son Adam. One time or another she looked after Adam and Leo. She was very insightful and caring as both boys have special needs. Looking after children was her career and passion. There are so many memories, some that I can record and some not, lol! I cannot express how much I am missing you my wonderful friend, Debbie, of 60 years. I know you are now at peace and that helps me accept that you had to leave this world. Until we meet again. All my love, Marie
Pictures below: Grade 4 (me bottom left, Debbie row behind & center) & another grade. Adam's baptism 1991 - Debbie Godmother. Adam's birthday 1991 - Amy beside him and Debbie in the background. Next three Xmas pics - 2008, 2011 and 2012. Eileen visiting from Toronto Sept 2020. Debbie's birthday party this year at James and Shauna's home.
