COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – The many gifts of music

The specific treasures that were imparted to us by our parents Cornelius Falk and Katarina Sudermann Falk throughout our lives are unique to us as a family, and irreplaceable. To my mind this was particularly so during the approximately two decades when our family lived in the community of Rosengard located on the gravel ridge, some 15 kms southwest of Steinbach. In terms of numbers, my three younger brothers, and I are now the only surviving siblings of our onetime large immediate family. Nevertheless, the heritage we received continues to grow and flourish in a variety of ways.

How could that not be the case. The lives our parents modelled were so authentic that we could not help but absorb their essence. I acknowledge that I am speaking from a personal perspective, given that it was during this time period that I developed from being a newborn to reaching young adulthood.

To my mind nevertheless, it was during this particular time that our family especially evolved as a cohesive unit. We lived on the gravel ridge, within an easy walking distance from the Rosengard School. It was here that we spent the longest time as a family unit, the older children having grown up, and returning regularly to their parental home even after they had established their own homes and families.

Some years ago Martha, the youngest member of the Block family from whom our parents purchased our Rosengard home in 1938, contacted me with the request of whether I could provide her with a photograph or some sort of a blueprint of the house in which her family had lived. I still had a vivid mental image of the floor layout of that house. I asked my older brother Mick, whom we were seeing over Christmas that year, whether he still had a recollection of that place. It was quite remarkable that both of us, some 11 years apart age wise, came up with virtually the same mental image of a floor plan. There is no doubt in my mind that our memories reflected the powerful hold that dear old house had for us. Our sense of the meaning and the value our family held for all of us, was palpable as we sketched our memories of a simple floor plan, lived in that small, humble home in the community of Rosengard.

That music has held a powerful place in our family is an understatement. Singing was part of the way we lived. Fortunately there were a range of avenues in which we could engage in this rejuvenating exercise, be it at home as a family unit, at school, during Sunday morning church services, or at other events and gatherings.

Some years ago I met Mrs. Elizabeth Engbrecht at the Rest Haven Home in Steinbach, where I was doing a reading. I had known Mrs. Engbrecht from the years when both of us and our respective families attended the same church in Steinbach long ago. Mrs. Engbrecht, feeling somewhat unwell that morning, was not present for the reading. However, when we were enjoying refreshments a little later on, she joined us and shared memories with me of that long ago time. I was profoundly touched by her recollection of my father’s beautiful voice, even after so many years had passed, long after my father’s death in 1959.

During a recent social event my husband and I attended, we were introduced to a couple whom I could immediately recall having seen many years ago, although I had difficulty specifically placing them before being introduced. That introduction took me back some seven decades or so to an evening service at the Rosengard School. I have no recollection now of all the details of that particular evening service. What I do recall clearly however is the fact that the couple we had just met, had been part of a quartet providing the music on that occasion in Rosengard so many decades ago.

Music has provided members of my family with much joy and pleasure in many ways, including being of service to others. It is indeed a gift that keeps on giving.