Bras D'Or

Dennis Jessome
The Boy From Bras D'Or

Another Landmark Gone

This is my actual place of birth. It was set fire to years after we left but all the signs are there with the stories.

The window to the right was our bedroom where we used to write on the frost in the winter. Can you picture the banking around the house in winter to keep the place warm. The house is now gone, and what was left, the people burnt through the winter for firewood.

The post on the house is where I first hooked up the electricity with my first paycheck from the CNR, shoveling snow. The installation cost me $14.00 then and I was so proud our family finally got electricity.

There were eight of us born in that little house with not too much room to spare. Mom and Dad always made it homey and comfortable.

The front door was always boarded up in the winter to make more room for the warm morning stove. (Taken out in the summer.)

The house on the hill was George and Janie (Cormier) Long's place. There was also a shack between our place and George's place. It was Jack and Emma (Clark) Penny's place.

In the picture you can see the kitchen it was at the back, our bedroom was to the right, if you look at the picture, and Daddy's room was at the other end with the living room in between Only one window in the front and one at each side and two in the kitchen.

These shacks were small but were pretty big when we were growing up. The fun of growing up in that shack will always stay with me. I just look at the picture and a million happy stories, come to mind.

There was a whole row at one time starting at George Long's place and going up over the other hill. It was a village in itself. Ten little shacks, ten big families, with anywhere from ten to fifteen children in each family. The place was really busy.

You can see where all the stories came from. We also had an outhouse and a barn. If I could relive it over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

When you cherish something that has a meaning it stays with you forever. These memories will be with me forever.

Dennis Jessome.

These pages were created by Lark Szick
© Copyright All Rights Reserved. Mar. 2007.

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