BACK TO CANADA chapter 62

I had been praying long about where the money would come from to return to Regina. I did what I did as a kid. I went looking for scrap metal to sell. I knew it wouldn’t be much, but it helped. I visited Kinney shoes to see my old friends and got a few days work for the back to school rush. I was able to take that job because my original plans for returning had been canceled.

I had been exchanging letters with an Ontario girl though the summer. I returned home from camp to a “Dear Clyde” letter. It was over. There was no one else, but it was not going to work out between us so I should not bother driving out to Ontario to bring her back to school. This was my first experience as the dumpee. I think I was suppose to feel terrible, but it gave me more time at home and a greater chance to get some money together. I also pulled out my yearbook just to see if there might be someone returning that I might be interested in dating. There was. The only question was whether that same guy was still pursuing her and how she now felt about him.

Doing the last month at home I saw Al and his family several times. We talked once again about the strange way Al and I ended up in Canada. When I went, I felt like I was the tag along, but God was at work.

The information about the college came to their house addressed to Al’s younger sister, Becky. No one ever knew why it came or how their address had been tagged. Al looked it over and decided he would like to spend a semester at a Bible School and Canada sounded interesting. It was only a couple of weeks before he was scheduled to leave when I attached myself to the deal. None of it seemed weird at the time, but we began to put meaning to it all.

As Al had planned, he was not returning to Canada. So why was I going it alone? I had changed drastically. For the first time in my life I was able to launch out on my own. I didn’t know why the pull, but I just felt like I should go back for another year. His parents saw the hand of God. Al’s primary purpose in going was to get me there. I would not have gone alone to any Bible College and certainly not to Canada. It was beginning to appear that God wanted me there and blessed me with this family in my life to get my off my rear and moving toward his will. They also blessed me with some money. They had collected some money from a few friends to help me on my way.

My dad was the one who blew me away. I had decided I would leave my car at home and leave it here for when I returned. But he said, he would make the payments and I was to take the car to Canada. He believed I would be graduating from the school. I wasn’t even sure of that. He was so proud that one of his seven kids was heading to a Bible college that he was going to do all he could make that possible.

I left with enough for the school year, a car to drive, enough for gas and survival money. It was going to be a good year.

With the Ontario drive canceled and me working right up until the Saturday before schools began, I contacted my friend Roy in Winnipeg and made arrangements to collect him on the way to Regina. Winnipeg is due north of Omaha. I arrived at Roy’s apartment while he was out. His roommate met me and Roy arrived a few minutes later. He came in with a few cuts on his hands and face. They were minor but there were several. He had been at the bank getting money he needed when instead of walking through the full glass door he walked through the plate glass window and it all came crashing down around him. It was a miracle he was not seriously hurt. He didn’t even need Band-Aids.

Be were both booked on the first floor of the dorm. Roy was at the end of the hall near Forth Avenue and I was right across from the restroom. My new roommate was already there. Don was a farm boy from Alberta. We connected immediately. But I was also interested in seeing who returned so wandered the halls to check out the rooms. It was good to see old friends. I looked for Franklin. We began getting to know one another on choir tour when I took a carload on a little day excursion to "Silver Star Mountain" or some similar type name near Vernon BC, to see the snow.

The first day Tuck Shop was open I had to see if the same girl was working there. She was. I was glad. Was the boyfriends still around? He was.