I lived across the street from the Mathewsons almost my whole life, with the exception of ten years when I was off to school in Ottawa and after, living in Toronto. Over those years there were a lot of changes and renovations by my parents to the house and yard. When Edith and I bought the house from my mother and we moved back in 1990, we wanted to replace the newer fence out front with a re-creation of the old picket fence that I recalled stretching across the front yard as a kid. We had no photographs of it and so I tried to recollect its details from memory. But, I just couldn’t remember all the subtle nuances of the original design.

After struggling with it for a while I thought that, maybe, Mathewsons might have some photographs taken in their front yard years ago that may show the fence in the background. So, one day when I saw Larry in his yard doing those great things he did with grass, I went over to ask him. Larry couldn’t be sure if he had any pictures, but he told me he could do better than that. Leading me around the back of the yard and into the old drive shed that once stood behind the house at 34 Oak, he showed me a pile of old wood leaning up against the inside wall of the shed. Taking up a piece he handed me what was one of the original wooden pickets from the old fence, saying, “Your Dad gave me these to burn in our fire pit years ago. We burned most of them, but I didn’t have the heart to burn them all. Take as many as you need.”

Thanks to Larry, we were able to accurately recreate the picket fence that we thought was lost forever. That fence has been standing in our front yard for twenty-six years now, and I think of Larry every time I look it.