I loved growing up in Cornwall, Ontario. We lived at 13 Elm Street until I was 7 and then moved to 758 Sandfield Crescent. I attended West Front Public School for Kindergarten to grade 2 - Gladstone Public School for the last half of grade 2 through grade six - Central Public School for grades 7 and 8 - and - St. Lawrence High School for grades 9 - 13!

My hometown is where a piece of my heart will always be. It’s where I grew up.

No one really warns you about the part of adulthood - the part where you feel homesick - not for a house - but for a moment in time. A version of life that doesn’t exist anymore. A place you can’t return to and a feeling you didn’t know you’d miss so much until it was gone!

Cornwall, Ontario. Population - 48,000. It seemed so big then….it’s not really. A small - lovely city on the edge of the St. Lawrence River in eastern Ontario. The big bridge to the USA is gone now - Domtar (the paper mill) is also gone. The waterfront has been revamped. It’s beautiful. It’s my hometown.

I was 6 months old when the St. Lawrence Seaway project reached a massive milestone. The Moses-Saunders Power Dam was completed, coffer dams were blown open, and a vast area was flooded to form Lake St. Lawrence. The resulting flood submerged nine Ontario communities and one island, collectively known as the "Lost Villages" - Aultsville, Dickinson's Landing, Farran's Point, Maple Grove, Mille Roches, Moulinette, Ross's Point, Santa Cruz, Wales, and Sheek's Island. Over 6,500 residents were uprooted, with many homes physically relocated to newly planned towns like Long Sault and Ingleside.

I remember so many Easter Sunday sunrise services - watching the sun come up - in the Seaway building.

As a child, my friend and I loved to walk to the library on Saturday mornings and then head to Woolworths to buy a plate of fries and a coke - before we walked home.

I played badminton and tennis through the years. I took piano lessons for 9 years. I went to choir and youth group at my church.

I ate breakfast - lunch - and - supper with my family.

We walked everywhere or rode our bikes. We went for Sunday afternoon drives and always stopped for an ice cream cone.We watched hockey on Wednesday and Saturday nights. We attended the Baptist church. It’s where I was dedicated as a baby and baptized as a teenager. My sisters all had their weddings in the Baptist church. It’s also where we had so many funeral services for grandparents and aunts and uncles and most recently, three years ago - for my brother Ted.

We ate our meals at home. We came home from school for lunch. I only remember eating in a restuarant once - with all our family. We went camping on the Long Sault parkway. We picnicked with friends on the spur of the moment. We played board games and card games. Pete and Heather and their kids are still using the crokinole board that we used as kids. We did our homework at the dining room table. We did the dishes after supper. We played outside until the street lights came on. Life was good.

And all of a sudden I was in grade 13!

My grade 13 year was the best. Early in September - I was encouraged by some of my teachers to run for student body president. (What’s the hassle - vote for Castle). I won! It was an exciting year - planning events for the student body - representing our school at special events - and going to a conference in Ottawa. At that conference I met a player from the Ottawa RoughRiders and invited some of their players to come to Cornwall to play our senior boys basketball team in an exhibition game. They came! What a night.

I played basketball and volleyball and badminton - and that year - I went to OFSSA for badminton - and lost in the quarter finals. Our team travelled to TORONTO and stayed overnight for two nights in a hotel. That was big stuff back in ‘76.

I thought I wanted to go to university but didn’t have the $25. for the application fee. I didn’t ask my parents for it and never did apply. I would go on to Tyndale Bible College and Seminary and earn my Bachelor of Religious Education Degree (a Christian focused BA).

In the winter of my grade 13 year - Randy moved to Cornwall! He came over to our home on Saturday nights to watch the hockey game with my Dad and Mom and me. Even on the Saturday nights when I was babysitting - Randy would be over watching the game with my folks. Our first date was at a restaurant in Ottawa - called the HayLoft. All that spring “we hung out”. In June - just before the athletic banquet and graduation - we visited my grandmother in the nursing home. Gramma Castle had had a stroke years before and although she couldn’t move well - she could talk! At some point during that visit - Gramma asked me if Randy “was my young man.” I turned to him and asked him that same question! He said yes and the rest is history. He was my date for the athletic banquet - graduation - and for everything else for the next 39 years.

I was selected to be the valedictorian at my graduation. I was surprised because it was my English teacher - Miss Columbus - who told me that my classmates and teachers had chosen me. I was not one of Miss C’s favourites because I missed too many classes to play sports! Nevertheless - graduation night was magical. I remember sharing memories of our years at St. Lawrence - great wins in the gym over our cross town rivals - agonizing defeats to same rivals - amazing music concerts performed - plays and musicals acted - dances and proms - and hopes and dreams for our futures. Some wanted to marry and have children. Some wanted to get a job and “get out of Cornwall.” Some wanted to travel. I’ve lost touch with most of my classmates. I wonder what happened to them.

Fifty years! So much life lived since that wonderful year. My head is chalked full with my own good memories.

I know I sure don’t have 50 more years on this earth. Methuselah - I’m not! But until my last breath - I will -

Cherish each and every moment.
Inhale the peace that God promises me.
Look for the wonder in the sunset.
Rejoice in hope.
Smile at strangers.
Use my gifts and strengths.
Honour my memories.
Believe that miracles are still possible.
Forgive the past.
Hope for the future.
Love like I mean it.
Know that while all may not be well in this old world - it is well with me soul.