From Humble Beginnings……...
I don’t think I could ever do justice to all the stories my father has kept stored in his memory but I want to share at least some of them to pay homage his legacy....
Clarence Williams, the 5th child of Jane Williams (nee Wharwood) of Marli, St. Patrick and Wilford Williams of St. Kitts and Nevis was born in Grenada on September 19th, 1936. He spent his early days growing up on Lowthers Lane right where he spent his last days.
His childhood memories could fill a book but he always spoke fondly about one of his earliest memories. He recalled how his father worked in a bakery down on the Carenage would come home with goodies for him, his brothers and sister before they went off to bed.
As he grew his passion for cars and trucks led him to work as a mechanic which would eventually become his calling and his ticket to explore opportunities as a skilled tradesman in England then Canada.
The courage it must have taken as a young man of 24 years, newly married, to get on a ship and set sail to foreign lands in search of a better life for his family is beyond courageous! I always got a chuckle of his story about arriving in London after a two-week journey only to set down his carry on for a brief moment and discover it had been stolen. Looking around and not seeing his brother who was supposed to be there to meet him, he then summoned a taxi and asked the driver to carry him to Wellingborough not realizing he still had a long journey ahead of him. After an hour-long train ride and another taxi, he arrived at his brother’s home in Wellingborough only to learn the reason he was not there to meet him was that he had mixed up the date of his arrival.
After settling in England with Mum and us four girls, things would take a turn again. Upon driving his brother to London to apply for residency in Canada, one of the officers asked my father if he was not also applying? My father gave it a go and as it happened, he was approved!
Once again, he crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Toronto, Canada. No place to stay and a few dollars in his pocket. The immigration officer thought he was a mad man but took pity on him and directed him to accommodations in downtown Toronto. He eventually found a place to live and a job as a diesel mechanic at Buckley Cartage where he remained until his retirement in 2002.
There are so many special memories of the more than 50 years of our family’s life in Canada, It would be hard to pinpoint one or two and this piece would go on and on.
So many more stories…. In the end, the admiration we have for our parents, for their perseverance to give their 6 children the best life possible, a life better than the life they knew growing up is appreciated more than words can ever convey.
Dad (aka – Will, Dude, Pops, Claro, Saga Boy) your legacy will live on through your stories and keep your memory alive within us forever.
“Those we love don’t go away; they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard but always near; still loved, still missed, and very dear.” – Author unknown
