This is a little story about my great Aunt Anne Thompkins (nee Hopper) who lived out her final years in Victoria B.C.
I am not sure when exactly it was, but I was I think still a teenager when I got to go on my own to visit Anne. I had gone with my parents to visit Aunt Anne, but prior to that I hadn’t seen Anne since I was little when she lived with her husband Uncle “Tommy” in Bellville ON.
Aunt Anne was funny but with a straight face. It was kind of like dry English humour with a taste of sarcasm; Eg: We would invite her for Christmas and she would reply “I’ll be there… if I’m not dead” (lol) My dad always took it as her being a negative Nellie, but to me, she was hysterical!
This particular weekend my parents permitted me to travel alone on the ferry and buses to Victoria to visit Anne. I wanted to record some of her stories and thoughts on cassette, and get to know her again.
Anne and Tommy “Knight” Thompkins lived in Bellville ON in the 1960’s. When we first moved there in 1964 it was pretty tough for my parents, my dad starting Chiropractic college, my mom starting work as a waitress to provide for us while my dad was in school.
The first Christmas was genuinely going to be a Charlie Brown Christmas. We were as poor as poor could be. We had nothing for gifts, a tree or a turkey… or any kind of meat for that matter. I remember talk about having to have canned brown beans for our Christmas dinner. I don’t remember much as I was only 5 at the time, but I remember my brother Daryl going out and coming home with a spindly Charlie Brown tree that he got for 50 cents, which was the best he could find for the price.
The closer it got to Christmas, the more dire it got. I imagine my mom wondered how to explain to a 5 year old why Santa Claus was not going to come, even though I was sure I had been good all year.
I don’t recollect how close it was to Christmas it was exactly, but I remember my dad talking to Aunt Anne on the phone long distance, and then the next thing we knew we were going on a train ride from Toronto to Bellville to see Anne and Tommy.
Thinking back, I realize just how much she helped us out. She and Tommy welcomed us into their home, fed us a wonderful Christmas dinner, and she even made sure that the 5 year old me had a present from Santa. That present was a stuffed monkey and I still have him today.
The lean years in Toronto evenually got a little better. By the time the 1973 came, we were going back home to B.C. my dad graduated, my mom, no longer a waitress but a clerk typist for an insurance company. Daryl decided to stay and married in June just about a month after our dad’s graduation in May. In August mom, dad and I left for B.C.
Anne’s husband Tommy was a railroad conductor and because of his occupation, they had life time passes to ride the trains. So Anne after Tommy passed, would travel out to B.C. to visit the family. Later she finally decided to move out west to Victoria where her brother John and wife lived. She had a nice ground floor apartment in a nice neighbourhood.
When I visited Anne on my own that trip, I stayed in her spare room. During my visit she would tell me about the Hopper family and I recorded her telling the stories. Unfortunately, my tape machine failed to record anything. So the only recording I have of Anne now is from Christmas 1979 when she wasn’t “dead”, and came to have Christmas with us.
I do remember one of the things she told me about her mother. Her mother had gone blind, and Anne only being about a year away from becoming a registered nurse, had to quit nursing school in order to look after her mother. She cared for her until she died.
When she wasn’t telling me stories, we’d visit Uncle John and Dorothy his wife. One day, she wanted to show me some of the areas around Victoria and how beautiful it was. The beach was not too far of a walk from her place and we walked down old growth tree lined streets to the beach and watch the handsome cabs (horse and buggys) go by with tourists.
On the way back, we were walking back to her apartment. We walked under several of those large old trees hovering over the sidewalk. The next thing I knew I heard a big “PLOP!!” and felt a warm running substance running all over the top of my head and all through my hair! Well, of course I thought Anne would crack up laughing at me. But, Anne being Anne, just simply said something like “Oh well, it happens”, and did her best to wipe the messy bird poo out of my hair with a tissue. I am sure she cracked a smile when I wasn’t looking though. Totally embarrassed, we may haste back to her apartment.
Anne must have surely felt my pain and embarrassment, she was kind, not making a big deal about it, and offered to help wash my hair in the sink. She would have made a great nurse! By the time I was cleaned up, I felt much better.
I would have to say that great Aunt Anne was probably my favorite aunt. The last time I saw Anne was when I went for another trip to see her in Victoria, and introduced my future husband Dan to her.
It took 4 heart attacks before she passed in the 80’s. She was tough as nails but very much a kind and loving lady. I loved her dearly and still miss her.