Can’t remember the exact date but the year was 1983. A chat with my Dad who was telling me about his new job. One he found in the Globe & Mail classified ads. Public Works Superintendent. Just his bailiwick. He and his partner and two of her teenagers packed up and relocated to Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories. Followed soon after by my brother & his girlfriend.
Dad explained “Frob” was past the tree line with tundra as far as the eye can see. Long, cold, dark winters. And yet he suggested I seriously consider going to visit. An opportunity I might not get otherwise. To sweeten the deal he offered for pay for half the flight which was already discounted in November. Dad did say it was cold. And dark.
There were more than a few raised eyebrows from family and friends when I announced I was going to the NWT. On purpose. In the winter. I was 23-years-old. Working as a telecoms operator for Niagara Regional Police in St. Catharines, Ontario. Recently living on my own for the first time. Single.
The details are fuzzy to me now but before I left I had my cards read. Something I had never done before. I envisioned an old crone waving her hands in front of a crystal ball. The reality was a housewife sitting at her kitchen table. The mom of someone I went to middle school with. She shuffled a regular deck of cards and started laying them out. Said it confused her to see two astrology signs. Huh. Thinking to myself well I was a preemie and born a Leo but should have been a Virgo. Okay that intrigued me. Then she told me I’d be vacationing on an island but it was cold which didn’t make sense to her. Right again. Then she told me I was going to meet a man. Internal eye rolling. I wasn’t wearing a ring on the important finger. Feeling lonely but not actively looking.
Off to the far north I flew with a borrowed down filled coat and boots. The warmest hat and mitts I could find. My father picked me up at the airport and our first stop was my brother’s place. Dan didn’t know I was coming and was home from work, sick. Answering the door in his housecoat he said, “what are you doing here?” “Nice to see you too,” my sarcastic reply. To be fair they were all recuperating from strep throat.
Our first night on the town was the Legion. In Frobisher Bay back then it was the only place to go for drinks and dancing. The highest revenue earner of any Legion in Canada.
It’s become one of my favourite stories. A few drinks in my stepsister Kelly pointed to a long haired man at the bar and said, “see that guy at the bar, he’s a narc, do you want to meet him.” A little tipsy I quickly answered “sure, I’ve never met anyone in the RCMP before.” Kelly introduced me to Chris Stewart, the man who instantly changed my life. Tall and handsome and staring at me with his deep brown eyes. He was interested to hear I had a job with a police department. Asked me to dance. It was White Wedding by Billy Idol. Pretty sure we closed the place down.
Chris was in Frobisher Bay as part of a long term undercover drug operation that had just ended. Arrests had been made and he was there finishing up paperwork for the Crown Attorney before heading back to Yellowknife, where he was stationed. Handsome Mountie didn’t live in Frobisher Bay and would soon be headed west.
We both fell fast and hard. I phoned back to Ontario to tell a work mate that I’d fallen in love and she told my mother. I went home and gushed about my holiday as if I’d been on a cruise with sun, sand and surf. Not snowmobiling the tundra and trying to avoid frostbite. Most importantly spending every moment I could getting to know the most amazing person I’d ever met. And who gets a tour of an RCMP detachment including the cells on a date?
At the end of my stay my family and Chris all took me to the airport. I held it together until I got on the plane and started bawling. We lived across the country from each other. Chris reassured me we’d plan a holiday together but I was sure that wouldn’t happen. My worst case scenario generator told me we’d never see each other again.
I found out Chris was a better phone talker than a letter writer. Long distance charges were not an issue for him and we had long rambling chats late at night. Sometimes he’d pass the phone around so I could talk to his drug unit buddies and their partners. Found out later that consensus was we wouldn’t last long. I think there were bets on weeks, maybe months. His track record wasn’t great for long term relationships.
One night in December having just finished the 3-11pm shift at work, I was in my pajamas watching tv. Scared me when I heard a someone knock at the front door. I peered out to see my brother & sister-in-law on my front porch. “What are you doing here?” My time to ask the question. “Surprise,” they yelled as Chris stepped out of the shadows. “OHMIGOD come in, come in, come in.”They had all planned to meet up at the Toronto airport and show up unannounced.
In the short time Chris was in Ontario, I met his parents & Nana, his sisters and some of his best friends from high school. He met my Mom, and my workmates. No messing around. No time for casual dating. We were both all in.
The month after that I drove to his parents house after midnight shift. Handsome Mountie was back for another visit. Exhausted I fell into bed for a few hours. Was getting ready for the day when Chris softly knocked on the door and asked if he could come in. And then like a scene out of a movie he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Just like that. I didn’t hesitate. Yes. Yes. Yes I will !!! There was no doubt in my mind. Our engagement dinner that night was mac & cheese (one of Chris’s all time favourite meals) and champagne. He’d told Wally & Rachel, also part of the undercover job, that he was going to ask me. They brought a beautiful cake.
A few months later I quit my job, sold my car and with 3 suitcases got on another jet to start a new life.
Thirty seven years together. Six transfers across NWT and BC, 9 homes, beautiful daughter Megan who has a family of her own. Memories that will last the rest of my life.
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