It doesn’t take much for my mother to get excited but most especially when she meets someone from back home. She and her nine brothers and sisters, the Ginn family, grew up in Corner Brook. 

Now residing in Ontario, she worked in Student Services for Lambton College, in Sarnia, for many years. She saw students come and go from all over Canada, going out of her way to befriend any who needed her assistance. One day her Manager announced something new would be taking place in their department requiring extra time. He announced the college would be introducing “new fees.” After his announcement, my mother‘s face lit up like a lightbulb. She was so excited. She couldn’t wait! She spent the whole day making plans in excitement for the special day. When she went back to her boss and asked who they were, where they were from and when they would be arriving, he looked at her with a confused face. He said who? She said the “Newfies.” He looked at her trying not to laugh and said “new fees, not Newfies.” It took more than a day to bring my mom‘s chin up off the ground. She laughs now, but it was such a moment of disappointment for her.