All Things Family and Christmas: This Way Is My Way

By Richard Todd Canton

Christmas means different things to different people. So does family. To Richard Todd Canton, it means his revisiting life as a boy in a house that his father built for his family on Russell Street in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Remembering happy times as well as the sad ones is all a part of life. Christmas also brings with it fond memories of his mother, who filled their home with life, laughter, and love. All Things Family and Christmas offers both a sentimental journey and a reminder to all busy people that its important to take a moment to slow down and enjoy the holidays.

All Things Family and Christmas is the second collection of stories based upon Cantons life growing up on Russell Street. It offers a poignant, heartfelt window into the life and memories of a grateful son and husband. From the wonderful memories of Christmases long past to the memorable characters that he encountered along the way, Canton paints a picture of interesting people and wondrous memories that are the foundation of his history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450288033

Richard Todd Canton

Richard Todd Canton is living proof that Life Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Wonderful. He’s been able to take difficult situations and turn them into something positive. An author of several books, he encourages others through his writing to find the path they were meant to follow.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Richard Todd Canton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4502-8802-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-8804-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-8803-3 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 3/30/2011

Contents

This Way is My Way

Listen to Your Mother

A Million More

A Picture in my Mind

A Piece of Paper

A Mother’s Soul

For the Love of Me

And So it Goes

All The Leaves Are Brown

Cry Me A River

All Things Christmas

Sugar Plums

A Gift of Love

Christmas in Nova Scotia

A Winter In Amherst

A Springhill Christmas

An Interview With Santa.

Blew Christmas

It Happened One Christmas

Christmas Through a Kitten’s Eyes….

Happy New Year

Just Plain Betty

Out With The Old

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

White Christmas

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Let it Snow/Let It Snow/Let It Snow

Winter Meeting

You Needed Me!

Remembering Rhonda

Grieving

Thanks for Everything

Snowbird

Could I Have This Dance

Confessions of a Married Man

Double Wedding

Everybody’s Mother

Just So You Know

On the Loss of Your Mother, Kay McNally

Loreen’s Gift

This Way is My Way

Here is a second collection of stories from my life growing up on Russell Street in a house my father built and my mother filled with life, laughter and love. Brace yourselves People, it’s going to be a bumpy and emotional ride! You will laugh, you might cry, you will think and you might wonder why. Whatever the reason this book has fallen into your hands, take a trip with me Down Memory Lane…..

Listen to Your Mother

No one, and I mean no one knows you like your mother does. She not only carried you for nine months, she carried you around for the next nine months. She nursed your colds and fevers, suffered through incoming and outgoing teeth. She battled the flu and other viruses with an unmatched instinct and a protective sense of pride. She did her best to shield you from bullies on the playground and from bullies in general. A mother is like Santa in many ways. She knows when you are sleeping, and knows when you’re awake. A mother can holler upstairs, What’s going on up there? and she already knows.

Mothers insist on you brushing your teeth, washing your hands( both tops and bottoms), and they clean your ears. They tell you’ve had enough junk food for one day even when you think you haven’t had nearly enough. And they cry.

Mothers insist that you use your manners, use proper etiquette at the breakfast table, how not to chew with your mouth open, to tie your shoes, to be respectful to others, and that’s all before you leave the house. And they kiss you.

Mother says that an education is a very important thing. She says to listen to the teacher and to do as your told. She tells you to be careful when you head out the door for school and to wait for the crossing guard before you head into traffic. She tells you not to throw rocks or snowballs at other kids or cars, because they can blind someone. Mothers tell you to wait for your little brother because he can’t walk as fast as you do. She tells you to ‘mind your manners’ which really means don’t break any laws.

Mothers like to feed kids. Sometimes they cook big meals that are good for you and sometimes they let you use the microwave to cook foods that aren’t so good for you. Sometimes they don’t do anything but sit in the chair and relax because they have a headache. Mothers like to talk on the phone a lot. That can give a kid a headache.

Mothers think that they are fat. They think that if they could lose ten pounds then all their troubles would be over.

Mother can only count to five. If they have to count any higher, that means business. You don’t want business. Just ask your father. Mothers are the bosses. When you really want to go somewhere and do something, you ask him. He says What did your mother say? If she said No, then No! On that rare occasion that he might take your part, she has to count to five, and that means business. You don’t want business.

A mother thinks that teenagers are payback for all the stunts they pulled on their parents. They call it their come-uppance. That’s when they talk on the phone to their mothers and they say things like Oh, I wasn’t like that!. Or "I was never that bad!" Mothers think they should sit you down and talk about safe sex and drinking and drugs. It makes them nervous to give these talks but tell us that it’s for our own good. And they worry.

Mothers don’t sleep at night. They stay awake and think awful thoughts of what might be happening to their kids. They often remind their children of stuff that has happened in other families and how she doesn’t want anything like that to happen in her family because we are all she lives for.

Mothers listen to old people’s music and talk about bands and singers no one has ever heard of. They call them the classics.

Mothers like to watch television programs like OPRAH and DR Phil. They think they will find the solutions to their problems from them. But, instead it turns out that most mothers know more than DR. Phil and OPRAH combined, that’s why we all go to our mothers when all is not well.

Mothers love you in a way that no one else ever will. They want you to take care of yourself and to be careful, even when you’re twenty-five years old. Even if you’ve gone to college and got yourself a job. They hope someday you will meet someone nice and fall in love, get married and have a baby. They want to become grandmothers. When they do, they give that child everything they never gave you and when you tell them they are spoiling the kid, they tell you that it’s their job to spoil the kids. That’s when you sit in a chair and have a headache.

Then one day when you are looking into the face of your own children you think to yourself, so that’s what my mother meant. And you worry!

Listen to your mother!

A Million More

Just because I am getting older doesn’t mean I am slowing down any. I always look forward to the day and see what it will bring. I believe it is because I like my life. I appreciate living in a free country, drinking clean water and enjoying a healthy lifestyle. I like to keep busy and to work. I enjoy my job at school because of the interesting people I interact with on a daily basis. I also enjoy being a waiter. This can be very interesting as well. Just when one thinks they’ve heard it all, someone surprises you. It’s a good lesson to learn.

As an Educational Assistant, we are not the teacher. Teachers are trained in academics, we are trained in dealing with behaviours, emotions, acknowledgement and support. As a result we interact with the children in a different way than the teacher does. Our rewards differ as well. Sometimes the smallest looking achievement is worth a million to us. The job we do is an important one. It is nice when our contribution is noticed.

When our Student Council President, Lincoln Watson gave his speech at the closing banquet, he chose to acknowledge me and my life lessons, as the person he learned the most from in his junior high experience. The applause was thunderous, the compliment, touching. It was afterward that I realized exactly what my life’s purpose is and that I am fulfilling it on a daily basis. It is my duty to acknowledge and nurture all persons with whom I come