Tarpon Springs, Florida 1959…and 65 years later

Tarpon Springs, Florida 1959…and 65 years later

When I was seven years old, our family made a trip from Georgetown, Ontario to Tarpon Springs, Florida, on the train. (My father worked for the CN railway, so we had a family pass.)

Tarpon Springs, Florida – Wikipedia

We made this odyssey to visit our mom’s favorite brother, Uncle Walter, in April 1959.

My cousin Sharon, shown in the accompanying vintage photo, was a bit older than I was.

She was so sweet and considerate. She didn’t call me “Fat, fat, water rat; 50 bullets in your hat.”

I will always remember her as my kindest first cousin.

I gave her a bouquet of wildflowers. You can just barely glimpse them in the photo.

We had to empty out our shoes each morning of our stay due to the invasive bugs and vermin that crept into their abode from what we perceived as the adjacent jungle, especially black widows and tarantulas.

Florida Tarantulas and Other Spiders | Sciencing

My father mercilessly teased my mother about her great love for Uncle Walter. Every time mom uttered his name, dad would sing, “Walter, Walter, lead me to the alter.” I soon learned to join in.

Walter took my father fishing on a boat in a bayou. I witnessed my dad step on the sharp fin of a catfish and then leap about as if electrocuted, the gilled beastie flopping wildly as it adhered to the bottom of his gored, pierced foot.

Our visit to Florida was fraught with all the perils that bedevil dislocated city- slicker visitors, but was also infused with the soothing rays of rare, pure love.

Sharon just became a great grandmother. The baby’s name is Elijah. Would that he become a prophet and a miracle worker, like his namesake. And turn out to be as kind as his great grandmother’s inner child.