could be quite rough. What a thrill that was for me to be 
     
     able to take the helm. The one great dread in my life was 
     
     thunderstorms. They were the bane of my existence. 
     
     Our place was struck several times. The storms almost 
     
     invariably split as it approached the Island, so that the 
     
     storm totally surrounded us. They were dreaded times. 
     
    

    
     The arrival of new babies was always an exciting time. 
     
     Every man available went for the doctor, usually Dr. Allan 
     
     of Cardigan. Quite often the baby arrived before the 
     
     doctor. I remember times when they crossed that mile of 
     
     water in a dory, dodging running ice cakes and hoping it 
     
     wouldn’t close in before they got back. But somehow they 
     
     made it. There were other times though when horses were 
     
     lost on unstable ice, but other times they managed to get 
     
     the animal back up onto the ice and safely home. 
     
    

    
     These were the rough times. None of my three babies 
     
     made their debut on the Island. My mother-in-law made 
     
     sure I spent the last month or so at her home in Cardigan 
     
     North. 
     
    

    
     As I look back the main thing lacking was Church. There 
     
     was a Catholic Church in St. Georges. Some of the folk 
     
     had relatives or friends in Launching who helped by giving 
     
     them a ride to the church. My Dad took Gotells across 
     
     the Bay several times and someone met them there. The 
     
     nearest Baptist church was in Annandale. We had visits 
     
     from pastors three or four times a year. Sometimes, we 
     
     met in the school. It was difficult not having Sunday 
     
     School, etc. for the little ones. We just did our best. 
     
    

    
     I was always happy to return to Boughton Island. We 
     
     were living there when word came that my husband was 
     
     drowned on active duty in 1944. Two years later I moved 
     
     to Cardigan and not long after that everyone had left Dear 
     
     Island. My grandparents were the last to leave when they 
     
     came to be with me. It was a difficult, lonely place to live 
     
     at times, but I would dearly love to be able to see it once 
     
     again. 
     
    
   
   
    
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