40 years of Blessings!

Today is a BIG anniversary for our family; my Mom, my siblings and I! 40 years ago, today, we arrived in Canada, December 17th, 1968.

This picture was taken in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil in 1968.
We had to go for passport photos and Mom & Dad decided
to have a family portrait taken, as well!

Actually we arrived around dinner time at the Toronto International Airport.
Friends of my parents picked us up with all our many suitcases, bags and bedding bags.
Remember, we were moving and that meant blankets and pillows also came with us. :-)
When we left the terminal, it was dark outside and it was snowing. Really snowing ! ! !
We had never seen snow before and it was exciting!
We drove to Kitchener and had dinner.
I was a teenager and our hosts also had a teenage daughter, so when dinner was done we went for a walk to the nearby shopping center and met up with a few more girls.
It was a very bewildering experience, walking around in the snow, not understanding anything that they were saying unless, when they remembered that they had a new Canadian in their midst and then they would speak German.
We stayed in Ontario until early morning of Dec. 23rd when we boarded one more airplane and headed to Vancouver.
We arrived shortly after lunch and after collecting all our belongings we were welcomed by Grandparents, Uncles & Aunts and Cousins. It was quite the scene at the airport!
We loaded everyone and everything into several cars and then headed to my grandparents house where everyone that wasn't at the airport was waiting for our arrival.
Then, after we all had lunch and my one year old sister was put down for a nap, my Mom, Oma and, if I remember correctly, 2 of my aunts headed out to do some Christmas shopping.
Obviously, my parents did not bring Christmas presents for us children from Brazil ,so shopping was of the utmost importance.
Later that afternoon it started to snow and for the first time in our lives we experienced a white Christmas. It kept snowing, on and off, throughout the whole Christmas holidays!
After the holidays were over, my Mom & Dad had to think about getting the oldest 3 into schools. Rudy & Carlos went straight into their respective elementary school grades.
But I, on the other hand, because I was of high-school age, had to attend New Canadian classes and they finally found a vacancy for me at Sir Winston Churchill Senior Secondary School in Vancouver. The first 3 months there was nothing but English language studies and after that I was slowly integrated into choir & gym classes and a few months later I started to attend some math and social studies classes.
The snow stayed on the ground that first winter until mid March and having to take the bus to school that first winter, was not something I remember fondly.
There are many more things, of those first months, that I could write about but I'm not ready to write my whole life story, just yet!
Let's just say that I was not a happy girl back then. I wanted to go back home to my friends and my school. We did end up going back in 1970 for 6 months and it was great to see everyone once again, not to mention that I met my hubby during those 6 months.
After coming back to Canada the second time, things were much better even though I had to leave Wally behind. He followed me to Canada 2 years later.
The years have come and gone so fast!
Our family has seen good times and not so good times over these 40 years.
Mostly we have been richly blessed, again and again.
Our family of 7 has grown to 29 people but, sadly, this year we lost our Dad just 6 months short of this 40th anniversary.

Here we are once again, 40 years later.

Actually this picture was taken earlier this year
at my parents 55th wedding anniversary.
I believe that this is the last picture,
of the 7 of us, that has been taken.

This coming Saturday, the whole family is gathering at my Mom's new place to commemorate this special event. We will be eating, laughing and reminiscing.
We will also be missing our Dad, very much!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for moving us to Canada, our adopted country, where we have been able to enjoy it's many privileges. Where we enjoy freedom of speech, religion, education, jobs and professions.

We are so fortunate to call this land our HOME! ! !

Updated on Thursday, Dec. 18th!

It occurs to me that I could be misunderstood about what I wrote in the last paragraph!
Brazil has the SAME freedoms of speech, religion, education, jobs and professions as we enjoy in Canada. It just so happened that most of our family already lived in Canada, therefore, my parents decided to move our family to Canada, as well.
Thought that I had better clarify this.