Acknowledgements

P.S. Don’t Tell Your Mother is part fact, part fiction. My grandmother wrote letters to me for over thirty years. So did my Aunt. It was from their chronicles of day-to-day life in Telkwa, B.C. Pop. 852, that I got the idea for this story, and to write in the form of letters.

Though they wrote people nearly every day, neither Nana Noonan nor my Aunt learned to fold a letter. They’d just grab the pile of pages and fold them until the paper fit the envelope.

It made for a reading experience beyond compare. The richness of their descriptions was pure entertainment. What they left out, we read between the lines. Most often they would write about the same thing. Nana wrote to me. My Aunt wrote to my Mom. We could compare the letters and find out the real story. Most times.

All those years sorting out the pages gave me a skill that is one of my best attributes. I am a good organizer, and can read anyone’s handwriting, even my Doctor’s. It impresses the heck out of my pharmacist.

The incidents and events in this story happened in one way or the other. Some of the physical descriptions of the area are changed for this story, as are some of the dates.

While the characters are based on real people; they are mostly fictional composites. Any relationship to living people is shocking and purely co-incidental.

The Telkwa Barbecue and Smithers Fall Fair are actual events. If you’re ever up that way and have the chance, be sure to attend.

The Smithers Skating Club might exist in some form. The Ice Follies is purely fictional. Although there was a skater once …

This book is dedicated to my grandparents, parents, husband, kids and cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends. Thanks for your love, friendship and support. Thanks for the material.

The richness of life in the North Western part of British Columbia is truly something to be celebrated. We’re a unique lot. We have a distinct voice.

My husband says, ‘You can take the girl out of the north, but you can’t take the north out of the girl.’ He’s right. Who would want to?