The newlyweds walked hand in hand down the street looking at wedding rings in store windows until they found something suitable. Then it was off to the Marriage License Office to get the required paper for marriage; where my mother discreetly hid her new marriage ring from the registrar’s sight. They traveled by train to Fort William where they boarded a passenger steamer for their trip to Montreal. They visited with my father’s uncle and others before taking the train to Saint John, NB, and then on to Cardigan.

The young married couple settled in a house on the east end of Water St. with a view down the Cardigan River. They were without the basic elements of housekeeping when they moved into their new home. After the store was closed to customers, my parents filled a washtub full of groceries and housekeeping necessities which they carried over to the house. This residence belonged at one time to Jim Lewis my mother’s uncle, and presently belongs to Mrs. Bernadette Maclntyre. Ronan began his life here but before Jean was born my parents moved to my mother’s family home. My grandfather, David Lewis, completed his home shortly before his death. My mother was an infant when her father died.

This then became our family home and our numbers expanded to ten persons along with a live-in family helper. The walls ofthe house were stretched in all directions to encompass seven noisy boys and their somewhat quieter but nonetheless very active sister. My father worked from seven in the morning to seven in the evening, six days a week. At home things were always hopping but my mother seemed to survive without losing her cool.

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