Home Wisdom

In rural New Brunswick in the 1950s and 60s, life was not easy.  People were focused on developing the land, felling trees, planting crops, building their homes.  When my mother was young, it often seemed like the most important thing for young people to learn were the skills that would help run the farm.  Formal education, many thought, was a low prority.

My grandfather disagreed.  'Learning is not too heavy to carry', he would say, and send his children off to the one-room schoolhouse a few miles away.  They protested, but they went.  And, in the end, carrying that learning helped them negotiate the huge changes that took place in the 1970s and beyond, which sent several of them off to jobs in the city.

My grandfather didn't have the chance to carry much learning.  He had to teach himself how to do all the amazing things he did, such as creating parts out of raw metal to keep machines running or how to make and fit shoes for a horse.  I love hearing all the stories about what he could do, and I'm always sorry that I didn't get the chance to know him.  Having learned this story, I'm even more sorry.  Education is such a huge part of my life, and I love knowing that he would have appreciated all the learning that I carry.  He would have approved of my quest for a doctorate, even though others in my home province thought I was mad to move to England and learn about dead people.

You were right, Grampy.  Learning is not too heavy to carry.  I wish I could share it all with you.