by Emma (Daigle) Cress

Christmas 1940 - I can remember Dad hitching up his horse to take his bob sled, a day before Christmas - with Ma and us kids (Billy, Vincent, & myself) heading across the ice for Brimley, Michigan. There was hay on the sleigh and we covered up with a canvas.

The ice must have been 4 inches or more thick. It must have taken us twenty minutes to go from our Gros Cap home to Iroquois Pt., because I remember Dad making the horse run, and I had to look out a couple of times to see where we were.

We went over to Brimley, Michigan to visit Percy and Mary Parish, because Aunty Mary was Dads' sister. I guess we were expecting turkey and all the trimmings, but believe it or not, we had to go to the fish shed and kick the small frozen fish off the floor (some trout, herring and lox (which is fresh water cod) to cook for Christmas dinner.

The day after Christmas we came home and cooked our own turkey,