A Witness to Life (Ashland, 2) by Terence M. Green Page B

think that Ma would be pleased.
     
    Personal items found in Ann Radey's bedroom after her death
     
    white chamoisette gloves—boxed, never worn
    pair of eyeglasses
    photo of Martin and Mike—"April 7, 1886, Elora," printed on back
    ten 41/2" shell hairpins
    pincushion with hat pins
    pompadour comb
    statue of St. Anthony
    rosary
    packet of letters
    death certificates for Sarah Radey O' Brien 1885, baby boy Radey 1870, Patrick Francis Radey 1884, Loretta Radey 1885, Margaret Loy Whalen 1917, John Radey 1906
    baptismal certificates for Sarah, Julia, Margaret, Mike, Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, Kate, Bridget, Rose, Emma, Teresa, Patrick, Martin, Loretta
    locket with photo of Sarah Radey inside
    $5 American gold piece
    Beecham's pills
    box of Peps for winter coughs
    bottle of Bayer aspirin
    cherrywood jewelry box
    Cuticura soap
    pair of wooden shoe inserts
    metal shoehorn
    box of buttons
    nail clippers
    crucifix
    dried palm fronds bottle of Lourdes water
     
    Maggie and Margaret and Jack and I move, to an apartment at 1505 Dundas West, which we hope will give us all more space. The children are getting older and need their own rooms.
     
     

 
     
    THIRTEEN
     
    October 6, 1923
     
     
    1
     
     
    SUNNYSIDE BEACH
    Toronto's Lakeside Playground
    Publicly Owned and Controlled
     
    130 Acres of Pleasure
    2 Miles of Boulevards and Promenade
    Amusement Devices, Games, Rides, Beach Chairs, and
    Refreshments
    Boating, Canoeing and Dancing
    Band Concerts Every Evening
     
    BATHING PAVILION
    7,700 Individual Lockers. Sterilized Suits and Towels.
    Hot and Cold Showers. Diving Platforms and Water Slides.
    Safety Floats. Water and Beach Flood-Lighted.
    First-Aid Room in Charge of Graduate Nurse.
    Hair-Drying, Hair-Dressing, and Manicuring.
    Professional Swimming Instructors.
    Life-Guards in Charge of Beach.
    Terrace Gardens, Refreshments and Orchestra.
     
    TWENTY MINUTES BY STREET CAR, FIFTEEN MINUTES
    BY MOTOR FROM DOWN-TOWN.
     
    * * *
     
    At 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 6, 1923, I alight from the streetcar at the Queen-King-Roncesvalles-Lake Shore intersection with Jack who is twelve, Margaret, fourteen, accompanied by Jock and his almost seven-year-old daughter, Gail. It is sunny, cool, bright, temperature in the sixties, one of the last nice days we will see before the weather turns, and I pull the brim of my boater low to shade my eyes from the glare. As we pass Tamblyn Drug Store, Jock ducks inside, emerging a few minutes later with a smug grin which he does not explain. Taking his cue, I pop into the United Cigar Store for three Havana Eden Ferfectos which I slip into my jacket pocket for later.
    Surrounding us are the billboards: Coca-Cola, Old Chum Tobacco, Sunnyside Hair Dressing Parlor, Laura Secord candies, Cozens Spring Service, Columbia Six, Autolene Motor Oils, Neilson chocolates, Players Navy Cut Cigarettes, Boulevard Garage and $1 Taxi. In the distance, on the hill, is the Sunnyside Orphanage, a strange juxtaposition to this place of childish diversions. In the opposite direction, on another rise, I can see the tiled roof and sign of the Sunnyside railway station. Tomorrow, bright and early, Jack and Margaret and I will board the new CNR line there for the forty-mile trip to Hamilton to see Maggie.
    We step carefully across the maze of intersecting streetcar tracks, complicated beyond belief, descend the steep stairway to the amusement park, and I listen to Gail as she squeals with delight, cannot wait any longer, and pulls on Jock's arm.  
     
    The Flyer roller coaster dominates against the sky, its trolley of cars with screaming passengers rising and falling rhythmically every few minutes, a clock's pendulum. The crowds are here already. Lineups for the Dutch Mill, the golf putting course, Fun Land, Pick Your Car.
     
    Jock puts Gail on the merry-go-round, stands at its rim as she circles. Both their faces, I see, are glowing. Jack and Margaret scurry off to try the Frolic and the Dodgem. When they return, I give them