Bear River. Elva recalls that they caught more fish with the safety pin, than they did with a fancy fishing rod.

She did not have a surplus when preparing food, but had the art of making the simplest meal look like a feast.

Jello was still a novelty in those days, since there were no refrigerators. However, Pat would place the dish of jello down in the well. In this way, meat and dairy products could also be preserved for a long time. When the children became sick with the flu or other communicable disease, they did not always run to the doctor. Instead, they used home—made remedies to cure their illness. Once Mary, the second oldest daughter, had the whooping cough, which disturbed everyone within the household. However, Pat did take her to the doctor, but the medicine that he prescribed did not cure the cough. Pat cooked some onions, added some sugar and water, and cooked it until it formed a syrup. When the child coughed, she gave her two teaspoons of this concoction, which eased the cough. Some family members still use this remedy today. Once when Anne, who was then eight years of age, suffered from migraine headaches. Her mother put some vinegar on brown paper, and placed it upon her forehead. This soothed the pain, and eventually, the headache would leave her.

Lennie drove the mail on two different occasions, to increase his income and to help support his growing family.

One spring, Pat and five year—old Shirley were planting the garden, when Shirley suffered a seizure. A car was summoned, and they took her to Souris Hospital, and later, to Charlottetown. Subsequently, she was taken to Halifax, where it was discovered the she had extra cells on one side of the brain. After surgery and extensive treatment, she returned home, and to the joy of her parents, never

suffered another seizure. However, their health problems did not stop there. In 1957, Mary

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