Chasing the Comet: A Scottish-Canadian Life

10. Fatherhood and a Different World

The youngling Cottagers retire to rest: The Parent-pair their secret homage pay . . . —Robert Burns, “The Cotter’s Saturday Night” CHAPTER TEN Fatherhood and a Different World This page intentionally left blank A After a year in the army, I found the world of Colony Farm very different from the one I had left. Some of the changes related to my work and some were deeply personal, but most of them eventually proved to be for the better. In one short year, the depression had become just a haunting memory. Suddenly, more civilian jobs existed than there were men to fill them, due to the numbers joining the armed forces. I had also changed. My experiences had transformed me into a man of responsibility. At work, I said what I thought. Oh, I wasn’t full of myself, but I was confident, and that gave credibility to my opinions. As time went on, I saw some stupid mistakes made for a variety of reasons. Sometimes people were crooked and out for their own ends. I could see the problems in a big government-run institution, where many people must work together, even if they don’t share similar points of view or knowledge. Those at the top didn’t want to listen to practical advice from us workers. There’s a lot of politics in a big place, and bad decisions made for political reasons sometimes drove me crazy. I don’t know, to this day, why they didn’t fire me more than once. I was free to speak out because I wasn’t afraid, because I always knew I could find another job. My father and my years of farm experience had given me valued skills I knew were needed most anywhere. By the time I returned from the army, I was confident enough to survive the bureaucracy of Colony Farm. 129 At first, Peggy and I hadn’t a house to live in. She temporarily stayed with friends while I continued to live in the show barn at Colony Farm. As soon as I could arrange it, I found Peggy an apartment in the Burr Block on Columbia Street in New Westminster. I came home mostly on weekends due to the length of the trip into town, travelling either on foot or hitching a ride with someone else. By this time Peggy was pregnant, so I was anxious to get us settled before the baby arrived. Not long after we moved, I was walking back to Colony Farm along the railroad tracks, feeling haunted by the thought that Peggy seemed to be keeping something important to herself. She hadn’t looked well when I left her, but when I’d asked her about it, she’d replied, “I’m fine, Dave. You be on your way now.” But the further away from her I walked, the more worried I became. By the time I arrived at Colony Farm, I was sure something was very wrong with Peggy. Immediately, I ran to the garage and borrowed a truck to use for the return trip to our apartment. On arrival, I ran up the stairs as fast as I could. Without knocking, I flung our door open and called, “Peggy?” But there was no answer. She was nowhere in any of the rooms. I ran back down the stairs, jumped in the truck, and drove like a wild man to the Royal Columbian Hospital. At the hospital reception desk, I said, “I’m looking for my wife, Peggy Caldow?” I stood impatiently waiting while the name was checked. I felt tremendous relief when the response was, “She arrived about an hour ago, Mr. Caldow. Please go up to the maternity ward. I’ll let them know you’re coming.” It seemed to take forever for the elevator to reach the correct floor. As I stepped into the corridor, the nurse greeted me with, “Mr. Caldow? Congratulations. You’re the father of a fine, healthy baby boy.” “How’s my wife?” was the first question I asked. “She’s fine,” Mr. Caldow,” the nurse replied. “Please come with me and you can see for yourself.” 130 CHASING THE COMET Relief came in a wave when I saw Peggy’s smile as we entered her room. She was holding Geordie wrapped in a blanket. She still looked...