All Things Family and Christmas

Cry me a River Don’t you love the classic songs of the thirties and forties? I do! So much so that I find myself constantly adding to my music collection. My wife Sherry, does not share my taste in music, so I block out the world with a pair of headphones that girl purchased for me some years ago in an attempt to save our marriage. Wouldn’t that be called divorce by musical disagreement? For as long as I can remember I have had a friendly obsession with singer Anne Murray and it has never wavered in all these years. Anne is still going strong. Although she's not still recording, touring and golfing. Looking fantastic in her sixties, Anne has inherited her mother’s youthful looks. Marion Murray, who passed away in 2006 at 92, looked great right up until the end. She was quite a lady. Music has always played a significant role in my life. I prefer voice and lyrics over the music that might drown everything else out. I find that songs that were written during the Depression or the War are more heartfelt and emotional than those that were not. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Perhaps it has something to do with appreciating the value of life. My mother and father were married in the late forties, after the War he served in, and began a life together with a hopeful future. They bought land and built a home on it and began the process of filling that home with children. That was Russell Street in Amherst. We, the offspring, came along in droves like most families did. The MacDonalds down the street had ten kids, the Boiduks across the road had seven. Large families were the fashion of the time. My parents Bert & Vivian Canton, had good reason for having so many of us. Bert was one of twelve kids who all remained quite close over the years, so he enjoyed having a houseful. Our mother Vivian, was born out of wedlock and given up for adoption. Subsequently, she was raised by her father’s family in Springhill. Since she was born alone it was only right that she create a family of her own. All of us are pretty much alike but I feel that as we all grow older some of our thoughts differ greatly. However, we are all still alive and we haven’t killed each other yet! One thing we all can agree on is our love of music. Our mother used to sit and croon classic songs to us in the evenings and we would do our best to sing along. Don’t Fence Me In was my favorite, along with I Can’t Stop Loving You and Cry Me a River. She knew her way around a song and was able to make it her own. Our mother could have had a career in the music business but chose a family instead. She always chose family over everything. In speaking about her, I have often stated that ‘she went without so we could have’. Such an unselfish and loving woman. It makes me proud to write about her, it humbles me to think about how she rose above her roots and it makes me happy to think that her whole life was filled with family, right up to the very end. That ladies and gentlemen, is a wonderful thing.