Hamilton Family

"You have reached your destination," the Scottish GPS voiced as we pulled up to the unfamiliar street. "Thank you Wallace," I said as I pulled the TomTom down. I glanced over to the houses around us and saw one with the screen door slightly ajar and a man looking out. Figuring that that was the one we needed, I waved at him and David pulled into the driveway. Hamilton wasn't nearly as warm as Hershey the last couple of weeks, but it was still beautiful. The grass was turning green and plants were shooting up everywhere.
The car eased to a stop, and I popped out of my seat. The side door of the house creeked open, and there stood the uncle I had never met. My stomach lurched with nerves as I approached the door. He was very tall, perhaps even taller than my dad. He had glasses and steel grey hair. But I vaguely recognized him from a picture long ago.
"Julie!" he exclaimed, "We're so glad you found us."
He pulled me into a hug and the awkwardness abated. I felt as if I was seeing someone that I had known for so long, but had not seen in years.
My uncle Laird has lived in Hamilton almost his whole life. I have never met him. It's not for lack of desire. But when you live on opposite ends of opposite countries, it makes it kind of hard. When we moved out here, I always thought it would be wonderful to visit all of my eastern Canadian relatives. Finally, we made the opportunity happen.
My aunt Pat was equally kind and welcoming. We sat in their livingroom for quite some time, just talking and getting to know one another. Laird told us all about his children, what they were doing and where they were living. My cousin Tim (who I've unfortunately never heard of before) lives in England. He and his wife have a one year old son who is the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. But most of his kids still live in Hamilton. Wendy was going to come see us, but she was leaving for a trip to Cuba.
Pat told us all about her life, her children, how she and Laird met, and such. Apparently, he had introduced her to her husband a long time ago. He remained good friends with them for a long time. Five years after her husband died, they got together for coffee and they became good friends.
We went into the dining room where they made us a wonderful lunch of chicken pot pie, salad, and bread rolls. For dessert she had made this bread pudding that was made with maple syrup (yum) and topped with homemade whipped cream (double yum). As I looked around, I saw that they had Robert Duncan pictures on the wall. Some of the same ones my mom has too! I told them as much, and although they didn't find it very remarkable, I did. I think it is crazy how much preferences are shared among family members.
Laird talked and talked about the family I've never met or hardly know. He told stories about my grandma and grandpa, and about my mom. "She was born after I was gone from Nova Scotia to Hamilton, but she was always here," he said as he gestured to his head, "She was always my little sister."
The stories he told about my grandmother were invaluable.
He said that he would go and pick up my grandmother to bring her to church every Sunday. And if he didn't, then my grandpa would get on the phone and tell him to get up there and take grandma to church! He also spoke about how when they began to get older, my grandpa would call him to tell him that something in the houses needed to be fixed. When Laird when get there, there really wasn't anything to do, but he figured that they had called because they wanted him there for company and such.
He said that grandma would often ride the bus to church activities by herself. "She was such a nice person. I would be driving her to church the next day and she would begin to tell me about the nice gentleman she had met on the bus the night before and how they had talked the whole way home. And I used to get nervous and tell her, 'Mom! This is Hamilton. It's a big city. You can't just talk to people.' But she never paid me any mind about that."

Laird and Pat took us on a tour of Hamilton then. They showed us the street where my mom grew up, the church that they went to, and pretty much the whole city. I can't describe the feelings I had seeing the city my mother grew up in. The whole experience was just overwhelmingly joyful.


My lovely uncle and aunt


A view of the whole city from "the mountain."


Dundurn Castle in Hamilton


The office where my grandma's branch met


The church where my mom went

I'll post pictures of Niagara Falls soon, but this was the most important part of the trip. My mom has an awesome family.