Winnipeg enroute

A special feature of our trip to Ontario was the stopover in Winnipeg on our way there. We stayed with the John and Celoris Miller, who were my next-door neighbours when I was little. They still live next door, and even arranged for a tour of my old house.

The big change in the house, besides a slightly different trim colour, is the lack of the big tree that was in the front yard, which I remember climbing. But I seem to remember the house being bigger than it is (funny how that works). Still, a lovely house, and it was quite surreal to walk through it. I remembered bits and pieces, but I was only not-quite-six when we left, so there's a lot I wouldn't remember. One of my last memories, however, is the temper tantrum I had on the living room floor the night before we left, in the summer of 1973. I really didn't want to leave!

It was so lovely to spend some time with the Millers, who remain probably my parents' favorite neighbours, even though it's been over 30 years since our family lived next door to them. Celoris says she always wished there was a direct tunnel between our houses. I wouldn't have minded that: their two oldest were on either side of me age-wise, and we always played together.

Sarah, their third, is shown here with her son Zachary, who spent a bit of time with Aleta (a few months older than him) on our trip out as well as the brief stop we took in on our way back.

I've often felt that if I moved to Winnipeg again, that I'd want to live right back on the street of my first home.