N ine MY CHILDHOOD DAYS ON THE FARM When my family was young they frequently asked me to tell them about the *old days". Even though I resented the fact that my little children considered me fairly ancient then, I usually told them stories which seemed to satisfy their curiosity. As my children entered high school and university they sometime suggested to me that I write about my memories of early life on the farm. But I always put it off with a smile as I considered it too time consuming to do. However, at the same time I thought that it would be an idea for the distant future when I would have much more time. Now that I am retired and live alone in an apartment, the hours of every day still seem filled with things to do. My husband died suddenly in 1972. As most people who are in the same situation as I would know, one cannot spend the rest of ones life just sitting and feeling sorry for oneself. We must still go on and use the time, which God has so generously given, to the best of our ability. I am not the type of person who can spend hours in front of the television as many people do today. It is difficult for me to understand how people can do that. I try to live my life and experience it in a richer way by spending time with my children and grandchildren; by doing various types of volunteer work such as teaching catechism, participat¬ ing in parish activities and the charismatic renewal; helping with "Meals on Wheels"; and visiting the elderly and lonely. I decided, after it was suggested to me, to take a couple of courses at the university. Father Bolger's course on Island History was a "must" a person told me. Now I find myself once again pressed for time; wanting to write a term paper and having to sandwich it between my other commitments. However, I shall do my best to describe from memory my first thirteen years of life on the farm. I was born in Mermaid , which is in Queen's County, in 1918. My family's farm bordered on Fullertons Marsh. The tidal waters of the flowed in and out of the marsh. The house was located very close to the water. In the summertime, whenever the tide was in, it was beautiful and my family often swam or bathed in the water. There was a nice garden between the house and the shore with lilac bushes