Ivy R. Woods Kelly, Isabel G. Kelly

My mother, Ivy (Woods) Kelly was a war bride and we arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax on March 7, 1946 during a terrible snow storm. We had a bad voyage over on the Mauretania as I was very sea sick and she never left my side.

When we arrived at Pier 21, Mum tried to hold onto me, luggage and a big doll I had with me. I ended up having to leave the doll behind because my mother could not carry it and I was tired and weak from being so sick. Funny, I never forgot that doll and wondered who ended up with it.

My mother was 21 and I was 2 years old. She left a good middle class home in a pretty place in England called Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex overlooking the English Channel. She had no idea what she was coming to as most of the war brides didn't. Some of her friends went back to England not long after arriving.

When we finally arrived in Newcastle, NB, my Dad was there with a car to take us 37 miles north to a small village called Burnt Church. On arrival at the road leading down to the village, a horse and sleigh had to take us the rest of the way as the snow was so high and heavy.

On arrival at the home of my grandparents, she met a few of the family as they were still living there. They had a family of 11 children and were rough around the edges, so to speak.

The house was not that big or well built and had no inside toilet, a pump to get water from, a wood stove and they washed their clothes in Church River with Lye soap and a scrub board.

As my mother said, I wanted to flee back to England it was so horrible but my grandmother was a nice woman and did all she could to make my mother feel at home.

My mother talked about the beautiful pair of silk pajamas she had gotten in England before she left and because there was no money for clothes, she wore it like a pant suit to social events. No one there knew the difference and complimented her on it time and time again. She laughs about that.

We moved to Toronto as it was booming up there and my Dad was having problems making ends meet. We lived in Toronto for many years and I went to school there. When I decided to move to NS, after my parents retired, they made there way down here as well.

My Dad has passed but my mother is still in fit condition as she looked after herself over the years. She is a wonderful mother and a very strong woman. I admire her so much for all she has been through.