Terry’s father was a World War 1 veteran, he donated all of his medals to Royal Canadian Legion Branch 233, he was the first president of that legion. Sonny has interests to war history,  like to collect medals for his treasure box. Before our vacation, Terry promised to take him to see grandfather’s medals, so that’s the first place we visited in Canada.

The staff working at the legion were very nice, showed us around, Terry asked about some people he knows, but the staff didn’t know much about those people. It’s a small town, Terry had many good memories  growing up there, recognized some of the old buildings, but people he knows were moved away or past away.

 

Sonny was really excited to see so many medals and items from  World War 1and World War 2, checked out some items in display cases again and again. And of course, he was very happy to see grandfather’s medals and proud of him. There was a piano in another room, he asked for permission and played a song for us.

We didn’t spend the night there, Terry was in a rush to get to Shannon and Andrei’s place in Toronto, so he could relax and rest for a couple of days.

Shannon is Terry’s niece, she and Andrei are very interesting and unique couple. Their house filled up with many books, walls covered by book shelves from floor to ceiling, even the side of wall of stairway. Most of their kitchen items are very old and have stories behind them, they favor old things rather than new ones.

We slept very well on their living room floor, with fresh air came through windows, very comfortable, felt like home.

I like Canada a lot, as soon as we past the border from States, I felt like finally I could exhale which I’ve been holding up for too long. I felt this way on last trip six years ago, I felt the same this time.

Where Shannon lives, there are so many shops and restaurants in walking distance, very convenient spot to live in a city. We walked to China Town a couple of times by ourselves, had two meals at Chinese restaurants, but nothing special.

On weekend, Shannon and Andrei took us to their favorite Dim Sum restaurant, it was my first time eating at a Dim Sum restaurant. The restaurant’s business was so good, the waiting line didn’t slow down once while we were there. The food were delicious, wish we had more time there.

On the way home from Dim Sum restaurant, they took us walking through some streets with many small shops. We stopped at a army clothing shop, Terry found some homemade wool socks, and Sonny found this gas mask. He asked me to buy it as a souvenir since he was a such good boy. I convinced him to save the money for toy airplane when we visit air museum.

 

Before we drove out from Toronto to Waterloo, we visited UCC, the boarding school Terry went when he was a teenage boy. He made an appointment with the school staff Maria, Michelle was the one who showed us around the school, even the room Terry stayed before.

In the building, we saw this portrait on the wall, Miss.B was the nurse when Terry was in the school. She was one of the kind of people with a big heart, gave all of her love and care to other people, devoted her whole life to the kids in the school. When Terry talked with Michelle about Miss B, he broke into tears, couldn’t speak. Even after toured the school, when we were having lunch in school cafeteria with other teachers, mentioned Miss B, that brought tears to Terry again. He said that Miss B was like a mother to them, gave them dearly care. His emotion affected us, brought tears to Maria and me too. He’s a good man with gentle soul.

 

We arrived at Shirley’s house ( Terry’s elder sister ), that’s where we found her, her favorite place to spend most of summer days reading on the swing seat. Shirley is another person who always took care and helped other people, her selfless stories could write a book, she is an amazing strong woman.

When we drove from Wisconsin to UP, past an airplane museum, we both felt bad for not stopping there, since Sonny likes airplanes so much. We found out there is a Canadian Warplane Heritage in Hamilton, an hour drive from Shirley’s place, so we visited there.

Sonny got a toy air plane and two war plane posters, he’s very happy.

We spent two days with Shirley, then had to move on. We visited his brother Bill and Joy in Port Dover, just one night. Bill has some health issues, couldn’t walk, depending on walker, wheel chair or scooter to get around. Joy is the one doing everything and taking very good care of Bill. She keeps their house so clean and neat, prepares good meals every day, and does some of her sewing project too.

They have a goose statue in front of their house, Joy made over 20 different costumes for the goose, and often change its’ clothes for different weather or occasion. A lady lives in their neighborhood always drive by their house in purpose, just to see what kind of clothes the goose is wearing on that day.

 

Then we visited Andy and Marlene, Terry’s other brother and sister in law. There we got to see their daughter’s family, Lisa has two sons, they are into playing hockey a lot, both are very nice boys. And we got to meet Bill’s son, David and his son Andrew. First Sonny was playing as a shy person, as soon as Andrew said he plays Minecraft game too, Sonny jumped around him, talked to him about Minecraft excitedly. They are not sports kids, they lost in their game world for a while.

Andy took us to a nearby toy store, let Sonny picking out toys and he paid for it. Sonny found a Minecraft book and he was in heaven.

 

It was so nice to see everyone, knew they are all doing so well with their life, and we were very welcomed in their homes.