Nellie had heard that jobs were plentiful in the big city of Vancouver. When she graduated from the residential school, she wanted to see different places and meet different people. Money was scarce on the reservation. Even though her family and her siblings wanted her to stay, she bid them goodbye and left to make her way by herself.
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| Residential School graduate, prop. AHC |
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Her friendly smile and infinite sense of patience helped her charm the patrons at the Ovaltine Cafe, where she worked from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Hastings and Main was part of the downtown epicentre until the late forties. There she met most of the local Vancouver Police officers who liked to stop by the cafe, and her future husband, a heavy duty mechanic from the prairies.
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| The Couple, in the late 1940s, prop. AHC |
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Two boys were born in the next few years and jobs opened on the Dew Line, the Distant Early Warning System that was being installed in the far north. Her husband signed on. During his early days of work at the site, the report indicated the plane had crashed within the Artic Circle. He was believed dead. Communications were practically nonexistent, especially in the cold winter months. There were no letters.
Devasted, Nellie moved back to her hometown and tried to look after her young children. Life was hard, even with family nearby. Enduring the cold winters, the resentment by others in the community, and the feeling of loss, she worked as a waitress to feed her kids. The customers always liked Nellie.
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| Nellie, in hat, with friend at cafe , Vancouver,BC - AHC |
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Seven months later, E.W. was able to get a letter to Nellie and advised he was coming home. He had not crashed, after all, but had been restricted from contact. Back to Vancouver Nellie went, hiring on with the T. Eaton Company, where she worked until she retired at age 65. Her two boys flourished in Vancouver, riding the streetcars and meeting mom for dinner after a movie on Saturdays.
Local gossip said that Nellie's dad helped catch one of those famous bank robbers in BC, but I can't say which one. That would be another story. Nellie's birthday is coming up later this month when she will be 97 years old.* There's always a celebration at the care home, and her family visits with gifts. A lovely lady who never gave up despite her setbacks. She's one of those people who inspire me.
*Disclaimer: Names altered for privacy; based on true and fictitious facts. Photos, courtesy of family.
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Do you have a relative or a friend like this, one you would like to celebrate? If we don't tell some of their stories, who will? Please share your thoughts on this in the comments.
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