The Left-Behind Bride, in the Canadian Historic Brides Collection is published by BWL Publishing.
Researching this book, I realized how many family stories get lost. Especially the women’s stories: -- their hardships, daily lives and joys.
In the up-coming blogs on the 6th of the months, I’ll share stories I’ve collected. Many come from the South Shore of Nova Scotia where The Left-Behind Bride is set. Welcome to the world of War Widow, Maggie Benson, 1929.
In the beginning...
Reading Oceans of Rum during my research triggered regrets.
No, not the alcoholic variety. This book, whose subtitle is The Nova Scotia Banana Fleet in Run Runner Heaven, details many of the acts and events of the rum runners from Rosebay and Riverport on Nova Scotia's South Shore between the two world wars. Reading it, preparing to write The Left-Behind Bride, I wish I had asked more questions earlier in my life.
Many of the ships and their captains came from Riverport. The crews came from surrounding areas, many had arrived home after the war to find fishing no longer lucrative. Rum running offered another chance at money as well as excitement.
Much of the booze came from St. Pierre and Miquelon, the French Islands off the coast of Newfoundland. It consisted of whiskey from Scotland, wine and champagne from France and beer from Germany. After running such a load down the Rum Coast of the United States, the ships often went on to Barbados where they did pick up rum, or the makings of rum, and dropped it off on the return trip. It was dangerous and hard work.
The Regret
My regret is that, as a young woman, I knew some of the rum runners and their families. (I married into one of them.) I visited Riverport more than once, and both the families who came from there, and these stories are part of my children's heritage. And I never asked the "old timers" about it. Of course, they might not have told me.
But what I regret the most is not talking to the women. There are records of the ships and the men, but little is said of the wives and sweethearts. Lots of pictures of flappers, stories of the suffrage movement, and tidbits of life can be gleaned if you look hard enough. But what about the individuals and their fears, tasks, hopes and more. Maybe out there is a book where the author interviewed the women, but I have yet to find it. (Still looking.) However, with stories, if we know a person, we value their story even more.
What to do know about your family history?
When we are young we are interested in our lives going forward. It is only later in life we appreciate those that came before. How will our children and grandchildren think about us? What will they marvel at about our lives? Are we leaving stories for them to read? Are we retelling the family legends/stories or our parents? If you are a baby boomer you are the link between two amazing generations and of course your own. We cannot always go back but we can record NOW for the future.
My challenge
...is for you to write your stories. Find old pictures and write what was happening on that day, with those people, at the point in time. Include all the details, even those mundane ones. One day. in the not too distant future, other generations will look back and be happy you did so.
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