Kirsten
The birth of Kirsten, our first daughter, was an exciting event. Diane was in Regina General Hospital where I sat waiting. Her mother, Jo Dowling, was in a bar down the street. Arrangements had been made for Ed Dowling, Diane’s Dad, to come up from Florida right after the birth. I went to the bar […]
My Residences
My father was a Gypsy, a nomad never happy with where he lived, so he moved from place to place. The one long stay was on the farm seven miles southeast of Winkler, Manitoba, where he and Mom lived many years after neing married in 1918. The moves began in 1947 when we pulled up […]
My Sister Helen
When I was five years old, I had rheumatic fever and had to stay home from school all winter. During that time Helen was practicing for her final vocal exam. Every day I heard her sing exercises – ming ming ming ming ming ming ming ming ming ming ming ming ming. Then she would sing […]
Christmas 2020
Christmas 2020 was in many ways lousy because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was Code Red, which meant you could not gather in groups, not even for family celebrations. Emily, my grandson Justin’s wife, was pregnant in 2020. Her due date was early January 2021. Now it was two days before Christmas. Christmasses past had […]
Brother Wilfred
Wilfred was my older brother who died at age 14, three months after I was born in August of 1938. He died in November. My knowledge of him has come from other people, namely his father Peter A. Kroeker, his sister Mary and his cousin Peter J Kroeker, son of A. A. Kroeker, who […]
Herman’s Funeral
I have not yet gone to play tenor sax at the Church of John Coltrane in San Francisco because I have another gig. Herman Wilms, husband of my sister Mary, died yesterday up in Canada. She stood beside his bed, watching him slip away. Two months ago, still healthy and happy, he had been diagnosed […]
The Clown
During the 20-odd years we lived in our 15-room, three-storey house on Maplewood Avenue in Winnipeg’s old Riverview district, we had a Clown living in the attic. He appeared when visitors came with kids the same age as our daughters. He wore a colourful outfit that looked like pyjamas. His face was that of a […]