In the beginning continued ……. (3/73)

My mother Eileen and my father, Brandon were married on November 4, 1978 when I was just a little over 2 years old. No fancy wedding dress with frills or linens to be found. A quiet ceremony at home with family and close friends around. We lived in a typical urban 2-bedroom apartment on the west side of Edmonton. All decorated out in true 70’s theme. Complete with a patent leather recliner, a manila colored burlap sofa covered in florals and of course orange shag carpet.

My mother’s best friend stood as witness for her and my uncle, Tim, stood for my father as my parents said their vows in our living room and I played at their feet. The reception to follow in our kitchen and dining room. Simple and quiet but all whom mattered were there for the day. A moment I would not know I was a part of until many years later. It would take 37 years and the death of my grandmother for me to see a picture of the day my parents were married. Unfortunately, their marriage didn’t last long because my mother struggled with being faithful. A deal breaker for my father.

Over the years following their separation I would spend alternating weekends with my father at his parents’ home. A house filled with close friends, neighbors and family. My father didn’t date at this time, or maybe he did, and I just didn’t know. Things were however a little different at my mothers house.

After 2 failed marriages, my mother decided to play the field. I remember there being a few different men coming through the house on Friday and Saturday nights after the bars closed.  Some with gifts hidden behind their backs to surprise me with, in the hopes of impressing her. My mother’s erratic dating pattern would continue for a couple more years until one very cold winters night in the early months of 1981 when she would invite a man by the name of Jack Court over to watch the Edmonton Oilers take on the Calgary Flames. A moment that would change her life forever…………. for she had unknowingly just invited the devil and all of his demons into her home and into the life of her daughter.