Canaan Update

The previous post was for my young friend Mary. I was pretty sure that the Mary Canaan I enearthed on Facebook was "the real" Mary Canaan, but I wasn't absolutely certain. I wrote that entry, posted a picture of her father, and included a link to Cat Juggler in a message through FB. Not being sure whether she would retain any memory of me, I included just a few essential facts regarding my association with her family from the autumn of 1971 through the autumn of 1973, to see if this might jog her memory.

As it turned out, when she finslly - weeks later - saw my several  messages, she was flabberghasted. She and her brothers and sisters DO remember me, and have often spoken of me, wondering whatever happened to me. They were thinking I must have died, because I disappeared so suddenly and so completely. She says she was very sad when her friend went away.

My closest association was with Leo himself. Many of my Montgomery Ward friends couldn't believe that 18-year-old I enjoyed the company of 45-year-old Leo. I hung out with him at the restaurant nearly every evening of my life during those two years, helping out when needed, and listening to his big plans. It started out with plans to rent the adjacent stores in the building, knock down the walls and turn Leo's into a classy restaurant. Then he bought the place in Charmco, Wesr Virginia, and the big plans got bigger.

When my bosses at Montgomery Ward were dealing with the closing of the old Coffee Shop in the corner of the store, to be replaced by the new Buffeteria in the opposite corner, they had all of the old equipment to dispose of. They asked me if I thought Leo would be interested in it. I asked. He was. They sold him about ten thousand dollars worth of stainless steel restaurant equipment for $200.00 if he would haul it away. The one time I went with the family to Charmco was to help load, haul and install some of the "new" equipment in the restaurant down there.

Thirteen-year-old Danny and I were pretty good buddies as well. We went bike riding, played pool at the pool hall, went fishing once. This would be on Saturdays, when Norma and Paula were also working the restaurant, and the kids were bored. The most helpful thing I could do was to entertain kids.

Paula was seventeen, and daytime manager/chief cook and bottle washer at Leo's. I had the feeling that she didn't like me much. We had no connection anything like what I shared with her dad. Donna was eleven or so, and somehow, we never really hit it off. David was two. Nuff said.

But my best friend, and hardest for the Wards crowd to wrap their heads around, was seven-year-old Mary. We drew pictures and colored together. We went for walks around the block, played hopscotch and jacks. Once, when the carnival was in town a couple of blocks away from the restaurant, and the parents were too busy to take her, I volunteered. Leo and Norma were delighted, gave her five bucks, and away we went. That memory warms my heart, thinking of the fun we had, and the trust we shared.

I regret the fact that when Leo and I had our disagreement, I slunk away and just disappeared. In hindsight, I realize that we could have mended that bridge and gone on, but I was hurt and embarrassed and unwilling to face him. As much as I missed the Canaan family, my shame won the day in my heart. Coward.

Anyway, suddenly I'm back in touch. Leo and his wife Norma both passed back in the nineties, but the rest of them are very close and evidently talk about me sometimes. Suddenly, they have a lot to talk about!