THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES

When we were contemplating emigration sixty years ago, Canada.,New Zealand and Australia were 

options. I worked in  the accounts dept of a law office in a building abutting Admiralty Arch and overlooking Trafalgar Square. 

I had lived in London eleven years. My husband loved his home town. I enjoyed it but few places in Britain are not steeped in history. It was commonplace. 

An office colleague had lived in Calgary. It wa her entire focus She never tired of describing life in Canada.  She carried photos of her Calgary apartment in her purse. 

She had had an extra-marital affair and became pregnant. The plan was to return to London ,have the child and Terry, her Canadian lover would follow. .

He never did. Years had passed . It was as if life stood still while she waited. 

I had read the Jalna books and was already half in love with Canada. Strange as it seems now, I had no sense of the country''s geography,the size of it or the story's location. 

We lived in Toronto for the first two plus years. Without a car. We enjoyed the city. Especially Kew Beach and the Island.  We lived between Bay and Yonge halfway between Wellesley and Bloor. We could walk to the ferry. 

A small legacy made it possible to buy a home. Regency Acres  was being developed in Aurora. .The homes were being advertised on the radio. The price was right and Aurora became  our next and last move. 

I was surprised to discover this was Mazda De La Roche country. Sibbald's Point Provincial Park became a favourite summer jaunt  and our first camping trip.  The happiest days of my life have been spent on a shore as a child and as a mother with my children.

I assumed Sibbald House was the site of the Jalna Saga. I loved that place. It  seemed right to be there. 

Years passed, I've come to believe a person's life evolves as it is meant to be. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle on a card table. With hands hovering waiting to move the pieces into place. Nothing is haphazard.

Occasionally it is positively spooky, sometimes unbearably tense but always interesting. 

Last week I discovered from Anna's blog, the Lundy house on St.John's Sideroad was more than likely the house described  in the Jalna Saga . 

That sounds about right.