Homebodies - Neither eccentric nor strange

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Published on Sunday, January 10, 2016

By Rita Friesen

The Neepawa Banner

Technology has invaded my home. It has become ‘normal’ for me to spend time chatting with my sister via Skype. I get to see her home, enjoy the sound of her laughter and read her facial expressions. Tonight, we reflected on aspects of our shared childhood.

It began when she noted that my hair was especially ‘Walter-esk’. I know, there are mornings when I glance in the mirror and see my father’s hair on my head! Then we got to wondering where the line between eccentric and strange is drawn. I have very fond memories of my paternal grandfather and so my lens is soft and gentle when I look at him. He was the first adult that spoke to me as though I was a thinking being. Inquired as to how I felt about school and then listened for my response. But I digress, eccentric or strange? Grandpa was a thinker, a reader and a doer. He was one of the first of the Manitoba ‘snowbirds’. Back in the fifties, he purchased a house trailer and went to Arizona for the dry climate. He sent me postcards, which I still have. Now that is neither eccentric nor strange, just advanced for his time. He was known to use twenty dollar bills as book marks. Again, for the fifties that was rather large. What struck me has strange, still strikes me as strange, was that he could buy a chocolate bar, eat a single square and leave the rest in the glove box of the car until the next time he wanted another single square. Do you have any idea how long a chocolate bar could last? For me, who devours a bar in a second, keeping one that long is not only unsafe, eccentric and strange but plain unnatural!

I remember the wind charger in the front yard and the battery of batteries under the cellar stairs. The farm home had the comfort of electrical power long before the power lines came through. Again, perhaps an advanced thinker, a progressive farmer, not necessarily eccentric nor strange. Grandpa and grandma welcomed grandchildren for summer holidays. They were wise enough to have at least two of us at a time, ensuring that we kept busy without needing them. There were home and yard rules that we knew to obey. Never thought of what might happen if we disobeyed, just respected them enough to not chase the chickens, show up on time for meals and play quietly if we were indoors.

Grandpa had a passion for his faith and faith family. Though disappointed at times by changes and choices in his local church and the denomination, he remained faithful on his journey. As I mentioned, he and I had a healthy relationship and so I look back with a gentle gaze. Doesn’t hurt that I see some of those same traits in me. No, not eccentric not strange, just delightfully human.