COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – Remembering why they mattered

Why, we may ask ourselves, should we remember old stories and the individuals in those stories? Especially when there is so much going on in the world all around us. And, even more importantly, when so much historical information is available on the internet. Perhaps therein lies the reason why we should indeed remember our own personal stories and how they relate to family, friends, and numerous others, lest these stories be buried by information overload.

Ultimately, the stories of our lives, and especially the stories of our childhood and early adulthood will be lost. We may well think that such a loss is of no consequence. John Donne, the English poet thought, however, that our stories do matter. In his famous poem, No Man is an Island, Donne reiterates that all our stories are important; “Any man’s death diminishes me”, and then goes on to say “Because I am involved in mankind.” In essence, the effect that the lives of others have on us is also part of our individual stories.

Of paramount importance and influence on my life were the lives of my parents, and along with them, the members of my entire family. My view of life continues to be shaped by those influences, and by their response to the circumstances of their own lives.

Memories of the lives of others also have an influence on my continuing development. By the end of my first grade at the Rosengard School, under the teaching of Mr. Jakob Penner, I had become trilingual. At home I was already fluent in two spoken languages, being Mennonite Low German and German. My parents, Cornelius and Katarina Falk, were particular about keeping those two languages distinct, even though there were some similarities. Since English was the spoken language at school, I as a six year old had become somewhat proficient in that regard, in addition to learning how to read and write in English, given that the school year consisted of nine months of instruction.

Each of the other teachers I had at Rosengard, from Jack Wedel, to Margaret Klassen, Evelyn Wiens, Diana Toews, and Henry E.Toews, have shaped and enriched my life, each in their own way.

Some of my formal education has been intermittent, and yet all of those life experiences have been enriched by the interaction I had with others during that journey. Needless to say, my instructors were fundamental, and so too were my fellow students, who were an essential component of my social and educational experience. I completed my Grade 10 by correspondence at the Rosengard School. That meant that I had no fellow students in that grade, and no teacher as an instructor. My mother in her wisdom insisted that I attend as a student at the Rosengard School for Grade 10, even though I was studying as a correspondence student. She knew that it was much easier to learn in a structured environment than at home, where distractions of all sorts could readily interfere with my studies.

After completing Grade 11 at the Steinbach Collegiate, I began working at an entry level job at what was then Great West Life Assurance Company. We were a very small division made up mainly of young people, interestingly, a multi-ethnic group. What made this experience memorable was attributable, I am convinced, to the beauty of character conveyed in every way by our supervisor, Flora McEachern. Hers was a calm, unassuming manner, and all of us gathered for breaks in the area occupied by Flora and some higher level employees. I could not have asked for a better introduction to the workforce in the big city.

It is important to recognize and acknowledge the influences that have helped to shape the journey of our lives. By the same token, all of us have the opportunity to encourage others in their journey.