By Jean Cyrus

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Copyright Jean Cyrus 2011

Editor: Debbie Marshall

Cover Design: Kevin Wallace

Printed in Canada by PageMaster




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Contents

Introduction 5

Early Memories
The Old School 7
M M 8
M S 11
The Day John was Born 13
L C W 15
Sam 18
Growing up on the Farm 22
Johnnie and Peter 24
My Pet Hen 27
Appendicitis 28
Cameos (1) 30
The Day Mike Left for the Army 32
Christmas Memories 34
The Mysterious Light 37
Autograph Books 39
Illness on the Farm 40
My Bedroom 42
Life on the Farm 44
Our Farmhouse 46
School Days 48
Conversation in a Satchel 50
The Extra Gang 52
My Village 53
One Eccentric Uncle 56
The Surprise Box 57
The Old Hat 58
Childhood Treats 59
My Grandfather 60

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My Grandmother Frozina 61
Aunt Polly 64
Remembrance Day 66
My Car Accident 67
The Hospital 69
Pearl 70
The Bus 72
Spring in Manitoba 75

Golf
A September Day 79
Golfing in Mesquite 80
The Victoria Golf Course 84

As Time Goes By
On Hats 89
Shopping Surprises 91
A Letter from Rome 92
Cameos (2) 96
Those Red Pants 99
Bombay 1980 101
On Losing Things 105
My Friend Barbara 106
! l u 107
Saying Goodbye to Mike 112
Snowbirds in RV Parks 114
The Case of the Trapped Felines 115
Another September at NAIT 118
Phoenix, Arizona, March 15, 1999 120
Two Unforgettable Neighbours 122
On Retirement 124
Acknowledgements 125
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Introduction

Many thoughts overwhelmed me as I sat in church this morn-
ing. I experienced a sense of gratitude for my life, intertwined
with feelings of wonder at the beauty of the Mass. During the
recitation of prayers and the singing of hymns, I thought about
my mother and father, brothers, sister and grandmother. I re-
flected on the many beautiful friends I have had and the teach-
ers who have inspired me. I could go on for pages about all the
people whose paths have crossed mine and who have en-
riched my life.

This little book records many of the experiences, thoughts,
feelings and dreams that I have had during my life. It includes
true accounts, musings, fiction and poetry.

Prairie Dreams is dedicated to my parents, my sister and
brothers and to my nieces and nephews, who have encour-
aged me to write about my life. It is my thank-you gift to them.


Jean Cyrus (Nykolaishen)
Edmonton, 2010




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The Old School

This poem is about my old school, Wolodimer. I attended the
school from grades one to eight. My siblings and I began our
formal education there. Although I took grade nine by corre-
spondence, I continued to go to the schoolhouse each day. This
poem was written when I was in the tenth grade.

Behind the hedge, behind the walk,
where scurry mice, where swoops the hawk,
where bush and pocket gophers dig,
and ruffle-tailed grouse attempt a jig.
Where western breezes softly blow
and prairie sunsets brightly glow,
in this sweet spot so fresh and cool,
how stately stands the old white school!

Its worn-out door is open wide.
Behind it, boys and spiders hide.
Within its porch, a ball and bat.
Beneath the floor, a scrawny rat.
Neat rows of desks in a sunlit room,
a fatherly smile to chase all gloom.
An eager group of shining faces,
all bright and cheerful in their places.

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DWD
Were memories important in our family? This is a question
that our journal-writing instructor asked in one of her classes. I
do not think that we paid much attention to memories. My

a living and providing for six young children. However, I can
recall my father and mother reminiscing sometimes. Both
would respond to our questions about their past. Their an-
swers told us that neither of our parents had enjoyed a care-
free or happy childhood.

My father, Alexander Nykolaishen, was six-years-old when his
family sailed from Western Ukraine to Canada. He and his par-
ents and two younger sisters arrived in the Municipality of
Ethelbert, Manitoba. They were told that the land was good
for farming. Much of it was still unbroken, however. My grand-
parents built a log house on a piece of land along what is now
P 1 S
Road ran along the north side of the farm. Breaking the land
with oxen and ploughs, building a house warm enough for the
harsh winters, and putting up a barn to shelter the oxen and
cows was incredibly hard work.

M k S S
phan at the age of seven or eight. Her mother died when she
fell into a pool during an epileptic seizure. Grandfather raised
Mother with the help of her older brother, Peter Sadoway.
(How I wish I could have met my uncle. He sounded like such a
fine man.) They lived in a village called Terebovlya in Western
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Ukraine. Grandfather was strict, Mother told us, and some-
what harsh and quick-tempered. She did not like school, but
Grandfather insisted she attend regularly.
Food was scarce and she and her father subsisted on the sim-
plest of fareboiled potatoes, bread, onions and occasionally
other vegetables. During times when soldiers occupied the
village, Mother would sometimes steal lumps of sugar from
their bags. She always had a sweet tooth. To make life easier
for her, my uncleby then, working as a businessman in Ger-
manyarranged to send her to Canada, where a cousin was
already settled.
Mother did not want to leave Ukraine, but her father and her
brother urged her to go. That is how she came, at the age of
L M
was married to a woman named Annie. She was a jolly girl and
she and Mother had wonderful times together. One day, Peter
and Annie introduced Mother to a man named Alex Nykolai-
l C n
matchmaking was one of her favorite activities.) He was ten
years older than Mother, a widower with three small children
(Ellen, Sam, and Mike). A handsome man, Mother always said.
After a short courtship, they were married and Mother was
thrown into a life for which she was completely unprepared.
She had been the baby in her family and had no experience
looking after small children. During her formative years, she
did not have a mother to teach her how to cook or how to

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manage a household. Nor was she familiar with life on a home-
steadthe work that the men had to do and the many tasks
that faced their wives. Mother knew little about helping to
feed horses, cows, pigs and chickens. She had never milked a
cow, planted a garden, or cooked three meals a day for a large
family. Mother persevered and eventually became a proficient
and capable homemaker. Few who knew her in later years
would ever suspect just how difficult those early days on the
farm must have been.
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