April

Over Seas with Bill “BOOTS”	We have been moved to Aldershot, an army town and are in barracks that, even while occupied, retains a certain feeling of being bare. It is a bit of a bore, yet I am enjoying life driving a truck. One of my tasks is to give driving lessons. My Trainee is having problems. He cannot change gears. The ‘powers to be’ say, “he is going to drive!” They have arranged for me to run the garbage pickup for three weeks and try to teach him. He is my school chum, Jim. He says, “This is a waste of time” However, he is a batman and can get us passes which will allow us to go almost anywhere. We will take longer to do the garbage and not come back until after the troops have left the barracks in the afternoon. One of the spots we head for is a pub that is a meeting spot for army personnel with many GIRLS! This pub is where we go. I am fascinated by one of the girls. She looks up and our eyes meet. I tell Jim, “I am going to try to get her to go out with me.” I walk over and stand in front of her. I ask, “Will you come for a walk with me?” She looks up at me, pauses, and says, “Thank you but, no!” I counter with “Why not?” The other girls look up. She comes back with, “You are too young for me. How old are you?” I do a quick think and decide to be honest, “17” I say. She says “I am old enough to be your mother. I’m 27.” I reply, “You mean you would have been 10 when you were a mother?” The girls start to laugh and one says , “Go out with him- he is just what you wanted” Now I am wondering, ‘What is going on?’ They all join in “Go! Go! Go!” Others in the pub take up the chant. She shakes her head and starts to laugh and says to me, “Surprise! I guess I am your date, let’s get out of here”. Outside, she says “ By the way, my name is Beatrice. Just call me Bea”. I tell her my name and Bea proceeds to tell how last night the girls were having a discussion on how to date with the war on and she jumped into the conversation with ‘choose them young.’ She turns to me and says, “That is why, they were on me to go with you. Let’s go somewhere that is quiet so we can get to know each other.” We end up in a pub that is not busy. She told me she was married but they separated six months ago. We talk for awhile and all of a sudden she says, “If you really want to continue dating me there is one condition. It will only be till your regiment leaves here. I don’t want to be in a permanent relationship till the war is over”. I said, “That is great by me.” We had great times together. We walked, hiked, stayed over in some B&Bs. I still picture her in the vivid green English fields .We went to London to meet her sister and husband and spend a weekend in town with them. There were comments about my youth but then we would all laugh. We did the town; went to a concert at Albert Hall; listened to speakers at Speaker’s Corner. It was the time of my life. We stayed together till the regiment was moved to another area. I would liked to have kept up our relationship as I thought the world of her, but she pointed out to me that I knew the conditions I had agreed to. She said, “We have had good times together that leave us with good memories. People change over time and not being together makes the changes even greater and who knows how long the war will go on.” This made sense, as much as I did not want to accept it, but that was our agreement. We stood hugging each other for the longest time and she said. “I am going to miss you”. My thoughts were, ‘damn this war, but if there had been no war I would never have met Bea.’ Now when I look back I am so thankful for my memories of that time with an ‘older woman’.
In Praise of an Older Woman


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		Congratulations Marlene! Marlene White was acclaimed last night as the Federal Liberal candidate for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock which is the name of our riding. She delivered a wonderful speech to a good sized audience at our community centre in Woodview.
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ABC Seniors Dianne Langille
Elections were held in March. Committees members are as follows; Fred House-President, Tom Carlos- Vice Pres., Dianne Langille- Treas., Brian Conley-Sect., Directors- Helen Parberry, Alice Liberty, Oak Langille, Wayne Tucker, Wes Kruger, Doug Reynolds, Bob Sutton, Past Pres. Sally Rayes. We are pleased to welcome Brian & Bob to our Group. The seniors enjoyed a luncheon outing at The Carousel in Peterboro at the end of March. On Apr. 20th, 12 line dancers traveled to Burnt River for a full day of dancing. A Euchre Tournament was held on May 11th at the Comm. Centre. Fred hosted 40 players. Prizes were awarded and a lovely lunch was provided. The annual BBQ is up-coming Tues. June 26th. Join us for the last meeting prior to the summer break. Euchre games continue through July & August.
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	In Praise of an Older Woman, Congratulations Marlene, ABC Seniors