Proudly Presents

My Once Upon A TimeA love Story written by Clara (Reid) Ridley and family

I was born in Olds on March 12, 1923 during a terrible blizzard and it was 30 degrees below zero when my Father

brought my Mom and me home from the hospital in a sleigh.

I loved school and enjoyed the companionship

of my classmates.

I had to go away to get my grade 11, and then I didn’t know what to do with myself.

In December of 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed and in the first week of February 1942 I met an old school friend who was enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force and I decided to

join up with her.

We had to go to Calgary to have a medical before we could be accepted into the Women’s Division of the RCAF as well as some preliminary training.

One night my friend and I went to a dance, and along came a tall, lanky guy who was so handsome dressed in black slacks and white shirt and he asked me to dance.He swept me off my feet as we waltzed and jived the

night away.He was an amazing dancer!

I found out that he too came from a farm but he was studying to be a mechanic in the Air Force.

We spent most evenings together, walking and getting to know each other . One night he borrowed a car and we went for a drive. I think he was showing off for me – driving a little crazy,

But at the end of the night he kissed me for the first time and from then on I knew he would be my soul mate.

When my course was over, I had to leave for basic training in Toronto and my sweetheart, Art and I kept touch by phone but mostly by many love letters

written to each other.

I was sent from Toronto to Guelph, Ontario and then on to Mossbank Saskatchewan.

When we arrived at the base we were the first women on the station and did not receive a very warm welcome from the airmen.

It was bombing and gunnery school and we took over working in the kitchen for nine hour shifts.

During this time, Art and I wrote many letters and built a loving relationship via mail, and of course, in wartime,

anything can happen.

He had been sent to Ontario and then one day I received a letter from him saying that he had been posted to McLeod,

Alberta and would be passing through Moose Jaw.I boarded a bus and arrived half an hour before his train pulled in, What a wonderful reunion; it was as if we had

known each other all our lives. We both had tears in our eyes as we said goodbye once again.

Two weeks later I was thrilled to find out that I had been posted to McLeod as well. The next day I was helping serve food and there he was – waiting in

line. I remember his huge grin, then him asking me if I could meet him at

the canteen at eight – and so the romance blossomed.

If I worked the afternoon shift, Art would wait until I finished around 11:00p.m. and he would walk me back to the barracks and we would stand and talk. A couple of days after Christmas, Art and I were standing in the entry way of the canteen saying goodnight when he blurted out

“When we get married”

And before we parted that night, he had asked me to marry him and I said yes. – I often think of how amazing one little word like “yes” changed my whole life. He gave me a small diamond that cost $35.00 which was a lot of money, so I remember that we couldn't go out much after that.

In March of 1943, we applied for permission to be married. We had to appear before the Commanding Officer and the Chaplain and it was three weeks before we heard that our request had been granted.

Two weeks later Art was posted to Vulcan and I didn’t see him until our wedding day because on my 48 hour passes, I went back to Olds to plan our wedding.

At the time I was making .90 cents a day so it was hard to save up enough to buy a wedding dress.

Art and I were married on May 15, 1943 and spent our honeymoon visiting friend in Calgary. Then I had to go back to McLeod and Art went to Vulcan – it was such a teary goodbye.

It was three weeks before Art and I could have our weekend leaves at the same time.

In October I found out that I was going to have a baby, so I was released from the Air Force on October 27th, 1943. It made me sad to leave, I loved everything about it, the security, the camaraderie, and it was kind of scary heading back into civilian life, and living with someone who I had married six months earlier.It was war time so you had obtain coupons in order to get the staples like flour, bread, sugar, and butter. Things that I didn’t know anything about.

Our first home was two granaries transformed into a “make-shift” house and all our worldly belongings were in three suitcases – I remember being so sad and missed the Air Force.

In 1944, Our son was born and I had no idea how to look after a child, but I learned.

Art was promoted to Corporal and our income rose to $5.40 a day and many evenings Art and I would sit on the front step and discuss our future – He wanted to go back to farming, which I wasn’t too thrilled about because I remembered the struggle and heartache that my parents went through.

In April of 1945 Art was posted in Calgary and scheduled to go overseas, but the war ended on May 14, he received his honorable discharge from the Air Force.

We farmed for twenty-five years in which time we had three girls, and although the times were very hard, we had wonderful friends and a great community in which to raise our children.In 1971 we moved to Red Deer where another chapter of our life began.

My Sweetheart passed away on March 18th. 1998, less than two months away from what would have been our 55th Wedding Anniversary.

What began at a dance during the frenzy and unpredictability of wartime, surviving many hardships and disappointments, sharing lots of laughter and the joys of raising children has not ended as I remember and think about the years that Art and I shared together.

I miss being able to talk about our kids and share things with him – that is what you do when you have been married as many years as we were blessed with.

I am thankful for the memories.