One memory of those early years was the passing of grandfather Hudak in 1958. My younger brother Dave was just under 2 at the time and grandfather Hudak had terminal cancer and was at an old facility (today it would be called a hospice) with no air conditioning at Yorkton airport.
Fred and Helen would go to comfort him and the 3 kids stayed in the car with Uncle Albert (Fred’s brother) and his wife Shirley. Dave screamed throughout the entire time my parents were gone, making my aunt and uncle very upset. My sister and I were very embarrassed.
All one could hear through the open windows was my grandfather’s moaning in pain. Cancer patients weren’t given morphine then and the pain must have been excruciating. Hungarians didn’t scream they just yelled “Yoy, yoy, yoy yoy.” It is interesting how times have changed. He died at age 59 and I remember people at the service saying,
“He had a full life.” Today that is considered extremely young.
Sports was always my number one interest. About once a week the family would travel to Yorkton to deliver cream to the creamery. My parents would pick up groceries, and I was given an allowance, probably about $.25 which was always used to buy a hockey or baseball magazine. Pictures would be scrounged from wherever to make a scrapbook. It appears that first scrapbook cost less than .15 cents.
Organizing sports events started at a young age. Neighbourhood boys would gather in our field for a game of pick-up football on a Sunday afternoon.
About once per week our family would visit with the Sek family, usually Sunday night to watch Bonanza on TV. Ed and Albin became good friends, and Ed delivered the eulogy for my father’s funeral. Fred died of cancer in 1995 and Helen passed away 3 years later also from cancer.