MY MOM'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY - Edson & Ruth Stevens of Ship Harbour on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore

The photo above was one of my Nana Ruth's favorite photos.  It was the one she wanted hanging in her room when she moved from her rural home to a nearby seniors' apartment building, and it was the photo she wanted hanging in her room when she moved to a nearby nursing home.  It was hanging in her room when she died in her 90s (I am very bad with numbers so I will leave the number vague and the year absent for now)...  I thought this was a carefree photo from the time when my Nana and Grandad first started dating.  The story I remember is that they met at a community dance and cake sale fundraiser event.  Apparently my Grandfather Edson Harris Stevens saw my Grandmother at the event and took quick action to find out who she was, and what cake she had made.  He bid on the cake she made and the rest, as they say, is history, & her story, and our family's stories that we share with each other, continually marveling at the different things, ways, details and perspectives of collective stories - we all remember different things in different ways. I was surprised to learn from my Mom's youngest brother - the caretaker of the Stevens family homestead - that the above photo, which now hangs proudly once again in Ship Harbour, was actually taken on Christmas Day with Grandad proudly wearing the uniform of his military service.  At that time in their lives they had four young children, and although my Grandfather was not allowed to serve overseas he, and all peacekeepers play important and different roles in the balance of peace within our complex world. 

I always find it interesting to learn the stories of how individuals actually manage to meet.  In a world robust with layers of  hopes, needs, obligations & responsibilities, the miracles of the resilient chaos of living never cease to amaze me.  Although Asia is the largest continent & encompasses over a third of our planet's land, my connections to Asian culture are more indirect than direct.  However, because adoption has played such an important role in my family's life, I could not help but be inspired by the Chinese tale of invisible red threads that connect those whose lives were are meant to intersect.  This has been, and continues to be my life. Chance, serendipitous encounters that could not be planned but went on to affect my life in ways that could never be anticipated.  For me, since our family is a multicultural mosaic of largely European, Indigenous & African influences, it made sense for me to build on the story of the red threads of Asia to include beautiful, cultural threads interweaving between all continents of the world.  The complex web we share is replete with invisible, multicultural threads of every colour, shape, size & texture that help to connect all life in ways that we know now or may someday know as well as ways that can never truly be known or understood...

I guess it is fitting that I start at least part of the explanatory stories of my Nana Ruth's lessons to me with the year my Mother's Mother was born - 1922.  Coming from very rural Nova Scotia, growing up along the Eastern Shore in a small community called Ship Harbour, but with relatives that came to Nova Scotia through Tancook Island and the proximate southwestern shore region of Nova Scotia...  the weather always played a very important role in daily life.  The weather affects what we can do & what we can't do in ways we often do not consider.  Similarly, I like the metaphor that being unwell is somewhat like the weather.  The weather inside our body is often akin to the weather outside.  First and foremost it is very unpredictable - no one plans on getting sick or having a day when they do not feel well.  Like the high pressure systems and the low pressure systems outside our body, the weather systems inside our body are unpredictable, highly changeable often uncomfortable, discomforting & damaging in ways no one would ever ask for or deserve... I have gotten lost on a juicy but related tangent here and need to take a deep breath & find my way back...

The importance of mindfulness of weather - inside & out - the impacts of the ongoing cycles of sun, seasons, moons, tides, light & dark are part of how we live.  This has been captured many different ways in calendar systems through the ages, but I particularly love the connection of the yearly cycles in the symbol of different animals of the Chinese Zodiac  ... (Please note: There are many awesome resources on the Chinese Zodiac and this is merely a brief composite of many I have consulted over the years...)...  If you are interested, I particularly liked a book available through the public library system: "The Dragon's Tale and Other Animal Fables of the Chinese Zodiac" written by Demi and published by Henry Holt & Co. - ISBN 0-8050-3446-3.

My Nana Ruth was born in 1922 (MCMXXII) - Chinese Year of the Dog  狗 戌 

Like the animal namesake, persons born in the year of the dog are extremely loyal. They are the ones others turn to when they need help. The dog person comes through every time. Dogs are extremely sensitive to others.  If someone has been treated badly, dogs react quickly with the same feeling as though personally hurt. Dog types are honest, intelligent and straightforward. They will take on any responsibility that is given to them and will always do their job well, to the best of their abilities.  The dog is unconditionally loyal, generally unselfish, and naively idealistic. Unfortunately for them and those around them, dogs tend to be worriers and are sometimes seen as being overly critical.

Season	Autumn
Gemstone	Diamond
Positive Traits	Loyal, modest, dependable, just, honest, well-meaning, caring

My Nana Ruth was one of the important Elders in my life, along with all of the other Grandparents I have known, come to know & adopted over the years... I have always loved sitting with elders and hearing their stories, the problem for me has always been sitting long enough to hear the entire story... I can remember one particular phone conversation/interview I had with Nana Ruth where I was quizzing her on what courage meant to her... I always appreciated hearing her insightful perspective on things... Needless to say, in my urgency to write down the words she was saying to me, I ended up interrupting her just as she was about to say something else.  I clarified her previous statement and then tried to bring her back to what she was going to tell me.  I'll never forget her response: She laughed and said, "Oh, I don't remember now what I was going to say..." I prompted her and tried to resuscitate that thought but it was lost forever... Believe it or not, all these years later I often wonder what little wisdom she had been about to impart on me that I interrupted and consequently never received.  I know that the experience made me very mindful about trying not to interrupt my Nana (or any of my elders) for clarification.  I have come to learn that the energy of a thought train, once derailed, changes in ways that cannot be planned or anticipated... 

Below are some of the many special photos and memories I have of my Nana Ruth - the home where she lived in rural Ship Harbour - the older story and a half left part of the building apparently used to be a community post office but was relocated (and added to) as it changed roles and became the Stevens family home.  Hopefully additional details & stories will emerge as the blog develops, but for now I must rest...