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Grace moves from the Annex,
but her daughter returns
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The Bohemian Embassy and Yorkville’s
coffee houses big draws
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| By Tom G. Kernaghan |
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“Be good, sweet maid, and let who
will be clever;
Do noble things, not dream about them all day long:
And so make life, death, and the vast forever
One grand, sweet song.” |
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| Grace— |
| Keep smiling. |
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Irene L. Britnell
August 29, 1925 |
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Grace was smiling on March 29, 1944, when
she and George took a six-month-old girl into their home.
The child joined David, a 9-year-old boy they had adopted
four years earlier. Grace had found her away around the
tubular pregnancy. Their little girl, whom they named
Alison, settled in easily and the young family was very
happy—in the beginning. George started up a sporting goods
store, Grace kept house, David kept busy, and Alison,
sensitive and intuitive, quickly saw the strength and
friendship in her relationship with her mother, and the
adoration of her father.
She could also see the mounting tension between her father
and Grace’s parents, who felt that George, now a former
military man, was spending too much time at the Legion.
Grace was torn between them. In 1951, a marriage that
had once been held together by great love, broke apart.
And though Alison could see this strain, she could not
easily see the written word: she was afflicted with an
incurable lazy eye, which made reading difficult. Grace
had a new mission: she became her daughter’s eyes.
Not only did Grace help her daughter, she also returned
to teaching, at Cobourg’s West Collegiate. While she commanded
her classrooms, Grace had a harder time with Alison. Though
she made some progress over time, the free-spirited youngster
grew frustrated by her inability to stay focused on words,
and by her father’s absence. Alison’s rebelliousness and
poor school performance drove Grace to make a painful
decision: she sent the teen away to Albert College in
Belleville, and when the young woman returned, she was
still full of spirit, but now much more focused. And she
was filled with stories Grace had told her … of the Annex.
In 1961, Alison moved to Toronto, took modelling classes,
and worked in various offices near the Spadina Avenue
garment district. In 1962, she and a roommate had two
flats—one on Spadina Road, the other on Davenport Road.
From there she frequented The Bohemian Embassy and the
coffee houses of Yorkville, where she took in young folk
acts like Ian and Sylvia, and Gordon Lightfoot.
Life in Toronto was exciting and fun. Times were changing.
Herbert died early in 1962. His passing weighed heavily
on the entire family, particularly on Alison, who had
been extremely close to “Poppy Herbie.” And Grace was
on the brink of exhaustion as she cared for her mother
and continued to teach. Making matters worse, Alison began
to see that her roommate had fallen victim to the rougher
side of beatnik culture—drugs and hooking. When a pimp
threatened Alison’s life, police told her to leave the
city. She left, with regret; like her mother, she still
loved the Annex. Two years later she returned to Toronto,
married and pregnant.
I am the younger of her two sons.
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Grace's daughter Alison
poses at the
Wychwood Estate in Cobourg in 1947.
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On the above date, August 29, 1925, the Canadian National
Expedition (CNE) opened to a record first-day attendance
of 90,000. It’s hard to say if Grace, then one day into
her 16th year, cared that The Globe and Mail was calling
Toronto “a Mecca for continent-wide joy-seekers,” because
the “mammoth spectacle” called “Ties That Bind” was celebrating
mighty Britain—an empire on which many believed the sun
would never set. More than likely, she appreciated another
Globe headline, this one about 30 female artists, musicians,
and writers: “Women Have Played Important Part in Success
and Development of CNE and Will Attain New Heights This
Year.” The following year, Grace and some friends started
the Vulcan yearbook at Central Technical School.
Grace lived long enough to see the sun set on many things
and many people. But she also saw the sunrise of discovery,
progress, and hope. She knew that while time waits for
no one, the circles of life do, in time, become poignantly
clear. And she saw, two generations after her discovery,
why the Annex is one of the most interesting communities
in the country. Grace’s eyes are still watching….
Tom G. Kernaghan writes Through Grace’s Eyes, a monthly
column on Grace Eleanor Cooey, who was born and raised
in the Annex at the beginning of the 20th century.
(Through Grace's Eyes -- The Annex Gleaner -- April 2004 issue) |
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