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72 8 Bill’s Family Comes to Canada In 1893, when Bill was seventeen, Aunty and Uncle decided that it was time for him to begin to build his own fortune. One evening after one of Aunty’s delicious dinners, Uncle Levius approached him. “Bill, ya’ve been wid us fer seven years, ahe? Ya’ve successfully comple’ed yar schoolin’, and ya’re a firs’-class farmer. Ya’re also a competen ’ carpen’er and mechanic. What’s more, Aunty and I have growed ta love ya ver’ much. Ya’re da son we neve’ had, ahe? “At da same time, we t’ink i’s time fer ya ta become more indepen’en’, ahe? We wan’ ya ta know tha’ ya’re free ta leave an’ begin ta live yar own life whenever ya wish. We also wan’ ya ta know tha’ we wish ya ta remain here and opera’e da farm wid us. Ya’ll be foreman and earn accordingly, if’n ya decide ta stay. It’s yar choice, ahe?” Bill knew that he had worked off his seven-year indenture, and he had been expecting a conversation along these lines. He also knew that he had been incredibly fortunate to have landed with the thoughtful and caring Aunty and Uncle Serviss seven years ago. Other Barnardo’s children had been less lucky. Many had bounced from one unpleasant situation to another. Bill felt every bit a man. He knew he was a competent carpenter and mechanic, and he was confident about his farming abilities as well. It was, however, difficult to think about leaving the Servisses. He had been with them for so long that they had become his family. He loved them. Bill, his mother, and his siblings had kept in close touch during their separation. He knew that he was fortunate regarding this closeness. Some Barnardo’s children never heard from their biological families after they came to Canada. He and his mother had recently begun to think that they might be able to reunite the family. They had started planning accordingly. Bill’s Family Comes to Canada | 73 “Thank you, Uncle! You and Aunty have been so generous to me, and I’ll be forever grateful to you. I love you both. My family and I have kept in close contact over the years, as you know, and I want them to join me. My mother and I have been thinking about how we might arrange for her and my brother and sisters to move from England to Canada. I need to earn a good wage and to save as much as possible so that I can send for them. I’d like to stay on with you, if we can agree on my wages,” Bill was enthusiastic. They did, and Bill remained with the Servisses for another two years, operating the farm and taking on more and more responsibility as Aunty and Uncle grew older. These years were happy ones for Bill, who loved his outdoor life on the St. Lawrence with the fishing, the games of lacrosse and ice hockey, the rapids, and the farm. By the summer of 1894, Bill had saved enough money from his new foreman’s wages to make a trip to England to visit Sarah and his siblings. It had been eight years and hundreds of letters since he had last seen them. Sarah was at the pier on the Thames waiting to greet him as he disembarked from the ship. Bill spotted her quickly, standing tall and still strikingly pretty in the crowd below as the ship docked. Sarah, however, had no idea who she was looking for. She had trouble imagining Bill as a man and certainly did not envision him at six foot three and 180 pounds. Sarah waited patiently for the passengers to file off the ship. She kept straining her eyes for a sign of recognition from any of the appropriately aged young men. Bill watched her with amusement as he awaited his turn to step down the gangplank. He walked ashore and toward his mother, whose eyes were still affixed on the crowd crossing the narrow walkway above her. “Hello, Mother!” Bill reached out his arms to her. Sarah stared in disbelief. Before her stood the tallest, most handsome man she had ever seen. It was not until that moment that she knew she had done the right thing all those years ago when she sent him away...

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