By Mary (Potorieko) Yawney – Raymond, Alta.
My father was born in Ukraine in 1888. He was called to the army when he was 22, and served to the end of the First World War. He told me later in life that he could still remember the bullets going past his head. My parents’ first child died of starvation during that war.
After the war ended, thousands of people flocked to Canada. Dad came home after the war ended and was surprised to see mom packing her things. She was getting ready to move to Canada. He told her, “I’m not going to Canada. I’m not going into the wilderness of an unknown country!”
Dad loved his country, but mom wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. She kept packing her bags. Having no choice, he followed her. They arrived in Canada with thousands of others and ended up in Invermay in east-central Saskatchewan. Dad told me the forest was so thick, not even a chicken could run through it.
He cleared some land and set about building a log cabin. Mom said the birds sang and she sang right along with them. Dad told her, “I’m building a log cabin but I’m not going to live in it.”
When mom asked why he replied, “I’m going to be dead before it’s finished!” (He fooled us all. He lived to 94.) One year after it was built, I was born in that log cabin.
Joy taking care of baby
At a very young age, I helped mom take care of my younger brother and sister. I attended school for a few years, then asked mom if I could quit. She said I could quit and help them on the farm, but I didn’t stay home.
I moved to Lintlaw 35 km away and got a job as a nanny when I was 14. I took care of a newborn girl named Eugenia Maleschuk while her mother took care of their family store. The store was in the front and their living quarters were in the back of the store in the same building. When Eugenia’s mother had to feed her, I took care of the store.
I did all the cooking, cleaning, and washing of the flannelette diapers by hand, then hanging them outside on the clothesline. It was a joy for me to take care of that little baby. I sometimes pretended she was my baby. The mother paid me $15 a month. I thought I was rich!
The father only came home on the weekends because he was a travelling salesman. They were very nice to me and I took very good care of their baby.
When my job at the Maleschuks finished, I moved to Margo, Sask., and worked for a family who was building a house. My job was to cook for the men who were doing the building. I was 17 by then and my mother had found me a very nice man to marry.
I married Paul Yawney and we lived on a farm north of Rama. We farmed for 20 years then moved to Yorkton. While in Yorkton, I finished high school and became a nurse.
