Paying a visit to honour my paternal grandparents and my Uncle Paul in Saskatchewan in late October.

It’s important to remember where you come from. . . It keeps you grounded and connected.

The days of a family on every quarter-section of farmland are long gone.

The church is closed, and emptied, in case of vandalism.

But the graves remain. There is a cemetary fund, and a cousin keeps the grounds groomed.

There has never been much First Nations recognition to my knowledge in Saskatchewan “pioneering” and farming communities.

There were vastly differing worldviews.

Nomadic lifestyles vs a “new nation” seeking “hard-working immigrants” to “break the land.”

I honour and respect my ancestors for the huge leap they made from the “old country” to Canada, to work so hard to make new lives, and to give future generations like mine a much better future.