The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Caley

until they could haul it and sell it to the elevators.) Alberta Canada is a grain and cattle country.That is the part where we were. Canada has large cities too.Getting back to the Packard family. Mrs. Packard's name was Effie and her husband'sname was Amasa. They were fine people with good kind hearts, but nobody knew what wasgoing on in the heart of a nine year old girl who had left her mother back in London and who hadbeen separated now from her father, brothers and sisters. They tried to make me feel at homethat night by offering me some grapes they had purchased for bottling onto jelly. I took one.They made up the fire in the cook stove with pine wood and set the table. We had bread andmilk. I didn't like my bread wet so I ate the bread dry and drank my milk.The winter months were cold and the snow fell heavy, storm after storm and thesnowdrifts were high. Their children went to school on horse back seven miles in the freezingweather. I had never ridden horse back in my life and was afraid of animals that size. They triedto teach me to get on and off, but I was still afraid so I told them. My father said I didn't have togo to school yet, which was a big fib. Eva tells me it was not a fib that our father said we didn'tneed to go to school until we got adjusted. So I stayed home and watched Mrs. Packard washclothes on a wash board. I spent many hours in the bedroom with my face pressed up against thewindow pain. I was so lonely I could have cried. I wouldn't tell them how I felt. I did help herdo the dishes. I liked the home made sausage they made and cooked it over the pine wood theyburned in the kitchen stove.The Packard family used to have family prayer, and each evening after supper of bakedpotatoes, bread and milk he would read out of the scriptures. One evening he was reading the tencommandments and Ethel and I giggled and talked so he said "Ethel would you please tell mewhat I just read." She couldn't so he turned to me and said "Ruth do you know what I readabout?” I said “Yes it was the fifth commandment, honor they father and thy mother. That thydays may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." He was surprised to thinkI knew them. I didn't tell him I knew all the ten commandments my mother had taught me. Shehad also taught me the Lord's prayer and the 23rd Psalm. Later they asked me to ask the blessingon the food, but I didn't know how, as father had asked the grace only on Sundays. He always atehis meals on a tray in his shop and mother was usually on the run, so “Grace” on the food wasnot said every day.I stayed on with the Packard's that winter and when the children came home from schoolafter their long ride home on horses we would play games on paper like tic-tac-toe, going to themarket and back. We played house and helped Shirley with his lessons as he was only in the firstgrade then. The time went by quite fast, but it seemed an eternity to me. They were good to mebut I was homesick. I wanted to be with my folks but that was just about impossible as Steve had80 acres and just a one room shack.My two sisters had been separated. Eva stayed at Sandford's and Winnie had gone to stayat Sandford’s brother’s home. His name was Osmer, but they called him Odd. My father waswith Steve living on the eighty acres of land. The Packard family used to drop me off sometimesRuth Tagg Caley pg 15