The Lansdowne Letters: The Greatest Blessing

On this Thanksgiving weekend I am thinking about all that we are blessed with,
about the peace, opportunity, and material wealth we have as Americans.
But I often wonder why are some so fortunate and why others have it so hard.

The First Thanksgiving ~ by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

circa 1912-1915

Wikipedia

Rich or poor, around the world,
there is one blessing that sustains most of us,
and that is family.
  
The most wonderful, powerful force in my life has been my family:
my parents, my siblings, and of course, 
Terry who has made my life a joy and an adventure.

Terry and I waiting for the Prince Kūhiō Parade

Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii

March 13, 2016

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Some of My Extended Family

Jake, Roberta (My sister), Natalie, Olivia, Heather

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada  Summer 2016

iPhoto by (Maybe) Sara Heembrock

When we arrived in Lansdowne House, we were already a closely-knit family,
and our experiences in the North bound us more tightly together.
Even today, separated by long distances, we are unusually close.
We love nothing more than to get together,
and this closeness has continued into the next generation.

Some of the Next Generation

Sara, Jake, Heather, Natalie

Jeffrey, Andrew, and Gavin

My sister Donnie and Martin's House

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada  Summer 2016

iPhoto by (Maybe) Donalda MacBeath

As for Terry,
I can’t imagine my life
without his calm, steady
support and love.

Binion's Photo     



















It was difficult for my father to be separated from my mother
and his children for almost six lonely months.
He wrote on February 24, 1961 to his extended family:

"It was sure great to see them!!!!  
Everyone knew me except the baby.  
She was quite strange with me
for a while, but she is over it now
and going around saying,
"Hi, Dad” just like a trooper.

She is the most adorable Baby,
but then maybe I am prejudiced.
Gretchen remembered me and just
about went foolish when she saw me.”

Baby Bertie, February 1961
Thanks to my cousin Dawn MacDonald White for this photo





I’ve been badgering my brother to share his memories 
of Lansdowne House with me.
He and I are likely the only white people who lived there then
who are alive now and have detailed memories.
In spite of his challenging job at Kufpec in Kuwait City,
Roy is writing down a few thoughts about Lansdowne House
and sharing them with me.  He prods my memory, and I prod his.

My Brother Roy and Me

Breckenridge, Colorado, USA, July 2016

Photo by Susan MacBeath

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

I am grateful every day
for the incredible parents
I was blessed with,
and this long process of working
with their letters and photos
has lessened the pain of their loss.

Sara and Don, First Christmas Together
With John and Esther (Mom's brother)
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, 1948
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

I thought in honor of Thanksgiving and the blessing of my family,
I would share what Roy wrote for me about our parents
in November, this year:

“I was blessed with highly intelligent and loving parents
who cared for their children more than themselves,
and gave everything they had to us.  

They were a hard working and passionate couple with rich personalities,
and with inquisitive and interrogative but also very different outlooks on life.
They were very lucky in that they were, as teachers,
able to share their professional lives with each other.

Life can be kind and it can be cruel.
They were not perfect and definitely had their ups and downs,
as does any couple with spirit and soul.
But regardless, they were the anchor of our lives,
and they passed their values and their attitudes on to their children.  

The five of us siblings shared equally in both their love and their care,
and their constant encouragement to find and live our dreams.
As a nine year old, I idolized them both and felt boundless security in their presence.
As an adult, I look back and understand the blessings they gave us;
and that they are and were the finest people I have ever met in my lifetime.
I know exactly where the courage and confidence to chase my dreams came from.” 

We Five:  Barbie, Me, Bertie, Roy, and Donnie

Lac Seul, Northern Ontario, Canada Summer 1961

Photo likely by John Garrick

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Roy and Susan with Their Daughter Heather

Beautiful Cove, Long Island Nova Scotia  Summer 2016

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Hold your loved ones in your heart every day.
Cherish them, because life is unpredictable,
and you never know when you may lose someone you love.

I wish my American family and friends joy in each other
this Thanksgiving weekend.
When everything is stripped down to the one essential in life,
we find unconditional love.

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

Point Prim
Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
Photo by Roy MacBeath 
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved