I just finished reading Pursuing China: Memoir of a Beaver Liaison Officer by Brian L. Evans. This was the book that I think I mentioned earlier, written by a man who grew up in Taber, that my Facebook Friend Linda Fong had brought to my attention. It was such a good book--the story he tells is compelling and interesting, and food for thought. But what interested me most was the romance that he mentions, but which is not the focus of the book.
So, Brian was in high school in Taber in about 1949, age 17, when he realized that he had fallen in love. Here is how he describes it, "From her first appearance in our class in September 1949, I thought Margo was someone special, and I was not alone. She was open, approachable, and had a gentle, teasing sense of humor." (page 38) If you are thinking she was a new student at school, think again! "She was also serious about her subject and displayed an inexhaustible understanding of French grammar. Because she played the piano well, she was asked by the school principal, Harry B. Myers, to accompany the boys' chorus he conducted." Brian did not sing in the chorus, but he was the editor of the school yearbook, and Margo (I mean Miss Burwash) was asked to take on the position of faculty advisor to the yearbook. So, she and Brian worked together closely on that project for two years. "During those two years we developed an easygoing and bantering friendship. After a chance meeting between her and my parents in town one Saturday afternoon she was invited, if ever she took one of her long weekend walks, for which she was becoming known, in our direction [a couple of miles out of town], to drop in for tea. On a few occasions she did, much to the delight of my parents, who, like everyone else, enjoyed her company. My father particularly liked the oppotunity to discuss the English classics, which he had read since childhood, and the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, whom he had met at spiritual seances in London years before. [My dad's friend Evan Evans KNEW the creator of Sherlock Homes?!!] My mother was delighted to have the company of a younger woman interested in her life, her knitting, and how she found life on the dry prairie." (page 39)
Here is the part that too many people nowadays who end up with their pictures in the news do not understand: "I realized that my regard for Margo went beyond friendship, but I also knew that under the circumstances there was a bridge that I could not cross until I graduated." (page 40)
After high school graduation in 1951, Margo traveled to Bermuda, and Brian worked to save money for his university education, which was to be at the University of Alberta--then the only university in the province. School started at the beginning of September, but university started three weeks later, so Brian decided "to put my case before her, and she did not reject me. Margo was clearly intrigued by my precociousness, and in fact it became clear we had love for each other. Thus began two years of discussions between us about whether such a match was possible and would be strong enough to go against the prejudices of the day. It was not until I graduated from the University of Alberta at twenty one years old that she agreed to marry me. By today's standards, our courtship was perhaps strange, inhibited to the point of being weird, but marriage was a step that required much examination, and we were living at a time when moral standards were very strict and conservative." (page 40)
Imagine the logistics of their love story: she is teaching in Taber, and going home to Edmonton where her parents lived for holidays. He is going to school in Edmonton, and going home to Taber for holidays! They were passing like ships in the night and only occasionally together, relying on letters to build their relationship.
The two married in London, when Brian moved there for his post-graduate education, on Oct. 8, 1954. He was 22. She was 37. Only three people were at the wedding: Margo's mother, with whom she had been touring the British Isles prior to meeting Brian to marry him, and Brian's cousin + spouse who lived in London. The newly minted Evans family lived and worked and life went on. One mention is made of the children they never had, when they were running out of money and so went back to Alberta in 1957, where Margo taught school for a year, although Brian returned to London sooner to get back to his studies, when he writes, "Margo wanted to consult her family doctor on the question of why we had not been able to begin a family."
Every time he mentions Margo, there is always a feeling of great tenderness and respect. Upon her death in 1999 from an aggressive brain tumor, Brian writes, "Suddenly, a friendship of half a century and a marriage of over 45 years ended, leaving me devastated and alone in a very large house full of memories. Ours was a marriage free of acrimony, largely because of Margo's great tolerance and flexibility. She is the unsung hero of these memoirs. Never too tolerant of cats, Margo knew me well. Unbeknownst to me, she confided to a close friend that after her death I would get a cat. One year later, I brought home from Montreal a mature brown tabby called Mookie, and Margo's close friend has not yet stopped smiling." (page 263).
This love story is so touching to me! The loyalty and high regard they held each other in, despite a quite staggering age difference. With the woman the older! That is the astounding part. Anyways, I think their romance would make a lovely plot for a romance novel! But people might not believe it, for indeed, truth can be stranger than fiction!
So, Brian was in high school in Taber in about 1949, age 17, when he realized that he had fallen in love. Here is how he describes it, "From her first appearance in our class in September 1949, I thought Margo was someone special, and I was not alone. She was open, approachable, and had a gentle, teasing sense of humor." (page 38) If you are thinking she was a new student at school, think again! "She was also serious about her subject and displayed an inexhaustible understanding of French grammar. Because she played the piano well, she was asked by the school principal, Harry B. Myers, to accompany the boys' chorus he conducted." Brian did not sing in the chorus, but he was the editor of the school yearbook, and Margo (I mean Miss Burwash) was asked to take on the position of faculty advisor to the yearbook. So, she and Brian worked together closely on that project for two years. "During those two years we developed an easygoing and bantering friendship. After a chance meeting between her and my parents in town one Saturday afternoon she was invited, if ever she took one of her long weekend walks, for which she was becoming known, in our direction [a couple of miles out of town], to drop in for tea. On a few occasions she did, much to the delight of my parents, who, like everyone else, enjoyed her company. My father particularly liked the oppotunity to discuss the English classics, which he had read since childhood, and the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, whom he had met at spiritual seances in London years before. [My dad's friend Evan Evans KNEW the creator of Sherlock Homes?!!] My mother was delighted to have the company of a younger woman interested in her life, her knitting, and how she found life on the dry prairie." (page 39)
Here is the part that too many people nowadays who end up with their pictures in the news do not understand: "I realized that my regard for Margo went beyond friendship, but I also knew that under the circumstances there was a bridge that I could not cross until I graduated." (page 40)
After high school graduation in 1951, Margo traveled to Bermuda, and Brian worked to save money for his university education, which was to be at the University of Alberta--then the only university in the province. School started at the beginning of September, but university started three weeks later, so Brian decided "to put my case before her, and she did not reject me. Margo was clearly intrigued by my precociousness, and in fact it became clear we had love for each other. Thus began two years of discussions between us about whether such a match was possible and would be strong enough to go against the prejudices of the day. It was not until I graduated from the University of Alberta at twenty one years old that she agreed to marry me. By today's standards, our courtship was perhaps strange, inhibited to the point of being weird, but marriage was a step that required much examination, and we were living at a time when moral standards were very strict and conservative." (page 40)
Imagine the logistics of their love story: she is teaching in Taber, and going home to Edmonton where her parents lived for holidays. He is going to school in Edmonton, and going home to Taber for holidays! They were passing like ships in the night and only occasionally together, relying on letters to build their relationship.
The two married in London, when Brian moved there for his post-graduate education, on Oct. 8, 1954. He was 22. She was 37. Only three people were at the wedding: Margo's mother, with whom she had been touring the British Isles prior to meeting Brian to marry him, and Brian's cousin + spouse who lived in London. The newly minted Evans family lived and worked and life went on. One mention is made of the children they never had, when they were running out of money and so went back to Alberta in 1957, where Margo taught school for a year, although Brian returned to London sooner to get back to his studies, when he writes, "Margo wanted to consult her family doctor on the question of why we had not been able to begin a family."
Every time he mentions Margo, there is always a feeling of great tenderness and respect. Upon her death in 1999 from an aggressive brain tumor, Brian writes, "Suddenly, a friendship of half a century and a marriage of over 45 years ended, leaving me devastated and alone in a very large house full of memories. Ours was a marriage free of acrimony, largely because of Margo's great tolerance and flexibility. She is the unsung hero of these memoirs. Never too tolerant of cats, Margo knew me well. Unbeknownst to me, she confided to a close friend that after her death I would get a cat. One year later, I brought home from Montreal a mature brown tabby called Mookie, and Margo's close friend has not yet stopped smiling." (page 263).
This love story is so touching to me! The loyalty and high regard they held each other in, despite a quite staggering age difference. With the woman the older! That is the astounding part. Anyways, I think their romance would make a lovely plot for a romance novel! But people might not believe it, for indeed, truth can be stranger than fiction!
