The story here is fascinating and not one to be tapped out in a few lines! The B&W photo shows a young Alf and Leila Redbourne of Hamilton, Ontario. The little girl is Ruth, Wendy’s Mom. Alf lost his wife, Ruth her mother when she died in childbirth with Ruth. Ruth went off to live with her maternal grandparents until Alf remarried, some two years later. Taking Ruth back into his home did not go well, as you can imagine her grandparents had become deeply attached and while it was right for Ruth to be with her Dad and his new wife, it wasn’t easy.

Alf and had two more daughters and life went on…but the rest of the story we did not know until more recently when Jason in doing some research on heritage discovered that the paternal grandparents were actually related to friends of ours which we have known for some 40 years. I won’t say more here as it wouldn’t be fair to put this in a public domain except to say it is very interesting to us. We have met with them and they have confirmed the information we have.

Of course, the photo to the right shows the Redbourne’s with us – they are of course Wendy’s grandparents and we always enjoyed being with them. Grandpa Redbourne, in particular, had stories and songs galore to keep everyone interested!

If you look at the photo with Philip in it you will have some insight into his impish personality!