Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?
It was that time of year where I first learn about Halloween. I lived in CHIPMAN New Brunswick, at the time, and my guess would be that I must have been four-years of age.
It just so happened I was with my mother when my older sister came running in calling out, “the costumes are in, the costumes are in. Can I go to Mary Marsden’s and pick out a Halloween mask? Please mommy, please?”
Well now, I do not know what masks are, however, I do know what Mary Marsden’s is. The only General Store in town. She had lots of things in her store and often gave me a candy of some sorts.
Now here’s her, begging to go pick out a mask, and I pleaded out, “mommy can I go to?”
Instantly she yelled, “no. You can’t go with me! I’m going by myself. Mommy can I go and see if there is a mask that I like, please mommy?”
I did ask again and my mother did look down at me, where I was jumping up and down like a crazy baby kangaroo, pleading to go along to see what this mask thing was for a Halloween thing coming soon?
“No you can’t come with me. You can’t. You are too little. I’m going by myself. Mother no.”
Well, the crazy jumping baby kangaroo got the best of things, where mother finally spoke.
“You can go look at the masks and see which one you would like to have, if you take Connie. But. You have to hold her hand.”
Well now, if her eyes could have squinted any tighter they would have been closed. But she begrudgingly said, “okay,” where mother repeated once again, “don’t you dare let go of her hand.” —“I won’t.” —“Promise?” —“I promise.”
So off we went. All the way to the store. Up the short road which was more or less a stones throw for a big person, but for us, probably a minute before reaching the big road that came from our left, and out from under a high railroad track up in the sky that came across the Great Lake.
She held my hand all the way to the road, across the road to Marsden’s, where she let go running up the greying wooden dusty steps and inside. Wham! The big screen door slammed shut.
Yes she left me out on the step. Then once I was in, 🤩! WOW, I loved it in there. And there was Marry, standing behind her counter watching down at me, and me looking way up at her. “What’s a mask? Where did Penny go?”
The store was filled with long stretching racks of plastic holding something on hangers, something I have never seen before, taking up practically the whole store? I couldn’t see Penny if I wanted to, and I wanted to.
Miss Marry pointed as she spoke, “Penny is over there, looking at costumes for Halloween. A mask is something hiding your face when you put the costume on to go trick or treating.”
What ever Marry said, blew over my head like a wind storm. At this point of my little life, I have never heard of this Halloween. So, I found Penny asking, where upon she told me to look by myself, and she was going over there, and off she went, leaving me once again. Only this time, inside the store, standing in the middle of a line of these costumes hanging in plastic bags on hangers.
What next, came as a confused surprise as I pushed apart between the hangers only to witness a very scary up-side down face staring at me, and another, and another and another, until being alerted to Penny’s voice yelling out in great admiration, “I found one! I’m going to tell mommy!” Then the hammer of that big old door slammed shut.
Awe! My heart jumped realizing she left me alone in the store with strangers!!! I went and pushed that old door opened and stepped out on to the platform. She was already across the big road. “Penny. Mommy said you have to hold my hand,”
Well now, she did look, I saw her look both ways and heard her yell, “RUN!”
Well I ran down those steps as fast as speedy Gonzalez, and out to the road.
I heard a massive BAM! Haven’t a clue what that was. But I can tell you it was quiet and dark. As the matter of fact, it was the most blackest of black there could ever be.
“Where am I. And how come I can’t see?” {This is a whole different story. A God thing happened.} But two and one half months later, my mother and her sister came to bring me home from the hospital.
Upon their, arrival, my aunt had bought me one bottle of orange crush and one Oh Henry chocolate bar. My eyes were bigger than my head at having a whole bottle of pop for myself.
Long story I know. But we are soon getting to the Bridge out of nowhere. okay, now I am home with a chocolate bar and a whole bottle of pop, where I only ever got half, a bottle or glass. I can not, tell you the excitement running through me having one whole bottle of pop, orange crush at that, for myself.
But when I got into the house all these kids came running out of nowhere at me asking for a bite of the bar, and a sip of my pop! Within seconds the bar was gone and me not even having a lick. As for the bottle of pop? There was only one sip left, 😲!
Well I took off running like nothing else matters, out the front door and Bam!!!
Well, while I lay in the hospital all that time they finished building the bridge. Nobody, thought to tell me about it.
I woke in the doctor’s car wrapped in a pink blanket in my mother’s arms.
After that I haven’t a clue. But because of that bridge out of nowhere, people would say, “there goes that little Taylor girl gets hit by car everyday.” Of course, I’d get mad, squint, and say, “not every day!”
The picture on my post, is the bridge, in NewBrunswick where I love to visit. My home town CHIPMAN. Only I ever got to go back for a funeral and then to visit my cousins. Everything was gone but that bridge. 😂
The end.

Back2thedoghouse 