Uncle Lou Ross

left to right: Eleanor (Al 's mother), Lou, and siblings

 As Christmas season approaches, I recall being a shy introvert child with a dread of boisterous cousins and teasing aunts who descended on my quiet day when I would have preferred to enjoy my presents in solitude. In this, the solitary child Al Purdy might have been a kindred spirit. He writes:

" And every second year, the advent of my Uncle Lou Ross, Aunt Edith and their three children, Jean, Claire and Don. Uncle Lou was my mother's brother, a craggy man with a Roman nose, his domineering character quite the opposite of hers. He owned a farm near Wellington...

They were hearty people, all of them, exuding Christmas cheer like skunk perfume. I disliked them cordially. ...Uncle Lou was hearty, Aunt Edith was hearty, Jean, Clarie and Don would obviously be hearty when they grew older....

Lou and Edith Ross

More than that, they were beautiful people, physically beautiful, and they got along well socially with everyone they met. Other people liked them. That was intolerable to me, a solitary pale child who was obviously a dreaming mother's pet as far as they were concerned...." (Reaching for the Beaufort Sea, p.34)


Thanks to Eurithe Purdy for the loan of these Ross family photos.