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The following is a draft of the manuscript I wrote for the Kootenay Story Telling Festival, in Procter, B.C., July 9-10, 2005. The story was given by Susan Lefebour, as Margaret Arthur.
Introduction
Welcome. The time is July 1938, an afternoon social hosted by Mrs. Alexander Carrie. The guest of honour is Nelson Pioneer, Miss Margaret Arthur. Please welcome, Miss Arthur.
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Well, well, well do I have a treat for you! My name is Margaret Lennox Isabella Arthur and I am going to both enchant and educate you today. How many here have heard of my parents, the doctors Edward Charles and Isabella Delamge Arthur? Let me see a show of hands. Tut, tut, not near enough. Now get comfortable and listen closely as I tell you the tale of how Nelson came to be.
My Father entered the world in 1856, kicking and screaming. Grandma Arthur said these traits followed him all his life through and I must admit it was so. His stubbornness and sense of right lead him to champion one schoolyard cause after another.
He was a headstrong, curious man. You know the type always poking things with a stick. As a result he had a difficult time staying within the bounds of polite society. Oh, how his sharp tongue became the bane of others. I suspect that when he finished school there was a sigh of relief as he collected his sheepskin and was out the door!
With a BA and an MA under his belt Father set out to teach the classics to the masses. He soon realized there was not much of a future in the dead languages, so he enrolled at Trinity College and graduated as a physician in 1888. He was ready to hang out his first shingle!
Well, practicing medicine in Ontario did not hold enough excitement for my wanderlust stricken Father. He soon learned that the CPR needed a physician, so he signed on for one year.
So you can imagine my Father was in quite the dilemma when he chanced upon the dark haired beauty known as Isabella Delmage. Talk about pitching woo, he was smitten. After a whirlwind courtship they were married in 1889. Now, do not think for one minute that my mother was going to pack in all her life's dreams for the chance of being a housewife. Before the nuptials she extracted a promise from the young doctor that she would marry him only if he allowed her to study to become a physician. Being a smart man, my Father agreed!
Father headed West with the CPR and my Mother, newly pregnant, kept the home fires burning. Oh, how their lives were about to change.
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