Sometimes it was impossible to get to church and Sunday School over at the Groff place; so mother was glad that she had started Sunday School at our home. Whenever we were able to go to church, we’d go; then we’d come home and eat. Later, a number of neighbours would gather at our house to sing and pray. Our parents taught us to put God first in our lives. They taught us strengthening, inspiring scriptures from John,
Phillipians, Luke, Proverbs and the like.
For special occasions like Christmas and Easter we’d gather for practice one day a week at the Wesley
Tates; the next week practice would be at our home. The Tates had a piano and we had an organ. In the early days we had no telephone, radio or television, not even postal service. So we organized singing groups, practiced plays and enjoyed ourselves winter and summer. We were like one big family. We’d have those Christmas tree concerts in that big house near the river, where Deal Mack lived. We’d have apples, oranges, and candies; we’d have a Christmas program – dad, mother, Mr. And Mrs. Payne, and Mr. and Mrs. Tate would sing. The Jacksons would sing; Raymond Johnson’s stepfather would sing with my mother and father.
Mother looked after quite a few children; parents would just come and ask her to look after their children, and she would. She was really wonderful with children, and children really loved her. She used to sing to us and read us stories; she’d play the organ, flute, and harp for us. We’d play games, make doll clothes and paper ladies. When mother was very young, probably eighteen or nineteen, she was living in Illinois and was supposed to go into town to write an examination to become a school teacher. In order to get to town she had to ride in a buggy drawn by two horses. She tried to catch the horses, but couldn’t; when she finally did, it was too late to write her examination – that was the only thing that kept her from getting her teaching credentials.
Grandfather and Grandmother Henderson moved to Canada from Monmouth,
Illinois, in 1920. They stayed with us in Wildwood for a few months, then they came to Edmonton. They lived in the little three room house my father built when we first came here. Grandfather soon found work; he was a good worker. Young and old on the job called him Brother Henderson – he was a faithful, loving preacher.
