Lilly McEwan, my Mother, was raised by her paternal grandmother, grandfather and three maiden aunts. Her mother had died in childbirth when she was just two years old and her father remarried shortly thereafter.
The family thought that she would be better off with her grandparents, while her older sister and brother remained with their father and his new wife. Needless to say, with elderly grandparents and three maiden aunts living in the house, she was pampered and doted on. While her grandmother was quite stern, as was Emma, one of the aunts, her grandfather, Edith and Helen were very mild mannered.
A child learns early on how to get what they want and with Lilly her aunt Edie and grandfather were the two she chose. In 1917, when she was just nine, her grandfather passed away after a lengthy illness with terminal paralysis agitans (Parkinson's disease). Her aunt Nell would marry when Lilly was just fourteen and Em, four years later, in 1926, but Edie was never to marry and would remain part of Lilly's life always.
Lilly grew up at 27 Saulter Street in Toronto, a working class neighbourhood. Not far from the bustling streetcars on Queen street, she would find getting around the city not to be a difficult task. When her grandfather was put in the Hospital for the Incurables she remembered well the trips on the streetcar with her aunt and her grandmother to visit him.
She attended Riverdale High School and it was there she met her future partner. Kelvin Bell, a pitcher for the highschool baseball team.
Lilly's aunt Edie was a dressmaker which made it possible to keep her well dressed. Lilly's grandmother died in 1925 when she was just eighteen. It was only then that her aunt Em married as her parents would have never approved. Em married a Catholic, which was considered totally unacceptable. When Em married in October of 1926, Lilly remained with Edie. However, December 1st of the same year she married her high school sweetheart. Afraid to announce what they had done, they both returned to their respective homes and kept the marriage secret for more than a year.