By Jay Scott Kanes

UIGG, Prince Edward Island, Canada – Time marches forward without stopping even for a moment. Yet sometimes people create ripples on its surface.

With luck and careful planning, by gathering in the right groups at an ideal place and time, they can cause a powerful illusion of time-travel. So it was recently when 17 savvy Canadians, none of them born yesterday, assembled at a farmhouse amid impressive cornfields here.

Once together, the participants traversed through time simply by chatting. Much of the talk followed two themes: ‘remember when?’ and ‘how have you been lately?’

No scientific experiment in time travel, this was a 55th-anniversary reunion for nursing graduates (class of 1954) from the Prince Edward Island Hospital. Ten retired nurses attended. Time-tattered class photos identify them as: Louise MacLeod (the reunion hostess), Charlotte Cairns, Georgina Cairns, Gladys Dixon, Doreen Ellis, Edythe MacDonald, Dorothy MacLaren, Helen Pendleton, Fay Stewart and Betty Toombs.

In 1954, five other nurses graduated with them. Two have died. Three failed to attend for lesser reasons.

While the not-so-recent graduates talked in one room, seven men (mainly husbands) did likewise in another. Having romanced members of the same nursing class, some of these guys knew each other from the old days too.

After prolonged reminiscing, the participants clambered into cars and drove for a meal and tour at Belfast Mini-Mills, a nearby business. There, they encountered llamas, goats, cats and dogs, among the creatures contributing to the creation of “exotic yarns”. Belfast Mini-Mills processes rare fibers, sells woven products and exports mill machinery.

But the “most exotic” yarns were the 1950s-vintage tales told by the former nurses. Their jovial chatter, based on time-tested, steadfast friendships, ended only when the reunion party did.

These “old pals” went home feeling vastly younger than their IDs and bathroom mirrors would indicate. Time never stops, but for this class of ‘54, it paused in a most pleasant way.




Time-tattered class photos show 15 graduates.



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