The Life and Times of Bob and Eddy Hayes - Part 2

I was working as a chambermaid for Inglenook Motel — a small company also  owned by Brewster.  We met by chance in the staff cafeteria in July, just after Bob’s 21^st birthday.  He sat across from me and noticed I never ate my butter. It was still rationed because of the war.  After several days he asked for my butter (you could say I buttered him up!)  I was very aware that he was sitting across from me.  Bob asked me what time I would be finished work and asked me to go with him swimming at the Chateau.  I was surprised, he could swim!  Our next date, he asked me to go horseback riding.  I couldn’t swim but I could ride a horse.  My farming background gave me that advantage.  We fell in love and had a great time working and sightseeing around Banff, Lake Louise, Field, the Columbia Ice Fields, etc.  It was a joyous time but all good things come to an end though and in September all the tourist things were shut down.  Bob found a job in Didsbury for several months and I worked at Shulmon’s Tailor Shop.  My grandmother's teaching me to sew helped me get the job. 

In January of 1947, Bob got a job in Calgary with Jeffries Sand and Gravel.  He drove 2 ½ ton gravel trucks until June.  That summer we both returned to our same jobs in Lake Louise.  This was short-lived though as Bob was approached by Greyhound Bus Lines to drive for them.  He began a Banff to Calgary run.  We were engaged to be married, July 29, 1947.  Bob was transferred to Nelson, B.C. and we didn’t like the distance between us.  We were married September 29, 1947 at Bob’s parents' home in Calgary.  It was a lovely small wedding and I was given away by my Grandmother. She was an angel on earth and I will be forever grateful for her guidance.  Mr. Morstad (pastor at my Grandma’s church) performed the ceremony.  Bob’s mom prepared a lovely lunch and after much laughter and tears of happiness we were on our way to Nelson, B.C. 

Bob and I settled in Nelson for a few months.  We lived in a suite adjoining one where Bob’s cousin May and her husband Howard Love lived.  They had a boy named Dwayne who was five years old.  We had some very good times with them. They were so kind to us.

The Greyhound drivers and their wives were also very good to us, including us in social activities.  The station agent Mr. Wearmouth was very considerate and often let me go with Bob on trips to Penticton, Trail, Castlegar, Nakusp, Kaslo, New Denver and so many more.  Nelson holds many wonderful memories for both of us.

In January 1948, Bob was laid off from Greyhound until the spring so back to Calgary we went.  We rented a nice suite only a block away from Bob's parent's place.  Bob took a job with Wares Taxi until he was called back to Greyhound in the spring.  He had a run to the Waterton Lakes until the fall and then was a spare driver and took runs everywhere in Alberta.  Our darling daughter Karen Louise was born October 8^th of 1948.  She was such a joy. 

Work continued with Greyhound until after Christmas, when Bob was laid off again.  He took a job at Eaton's until March when a friend of his from Fort St. John suggested Bob go to Whitehorse to work for British Yukon Navigation.  When Bob arrived there they weren’t ready for a bus driver, but could he drive a truck between Whitehorse and Dawson Creek?  Yes, he would!  This is what is so great about Bob, he always took whatever job he could as long as he was working. I don't remember him being more than a day between jobs.

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Bob and Eddy are off to the Yukon ... continue