A summer adventure leads to 70 years of love, commitment, and family

Edna and Murray Sandham, who been living in their house in Tillsonburg for 68 years, reflected on the dramatic growth and changes in their community. (Robin Krafft Photo)

Robin Krafft, Post Correspondent

When 15-year-old Edna Sandham was staying with her sister and brother-in-law for the summer, she probably didn’t expect anything of great significance to happen, but it did.

"I was staying in Springford with my sister when I got a call from Murray," Edna said. "There was a school bus driver who was taking a load of high school kids to Niagara Falls and there was room on the bus. He asked if I'd like to go and I said yes. After that, he started calling. He followed me with all my moving and always came to visit."

Edna's father worked for various farmers, and they moved frequently. Murray showed up faithfully to spend time with Edna and her family wherever they were, including Hanover, Walkerton, Byron, and Ingersoll.

Edna and Murray Sandham were married four years later, moving to Tillsonburg shortly after their wedding in 1955. They've witnessed many changes in town over the years, their growing family keeping pace with many advancements and innovations, but it all started with that summer adventure.

They initially rented a little house in town across from Livingston's, before purchasing their own home for $9,500 on a dead-end street surrounded by cornfields and peach and apple trees.

"Everybody here had children," Edna said. "It was a great place to raise children. I thought I had a palace. We owned it, and we were happy to stay right here. We always had good neighbors, and it's still very quiet. We always had a huge garden, which Murray loved, and we had so much we often gave some away."

Murray got an apprenticeship as a mechanic for 50 cents an hour, and later worked in the shop for $3 an hour. He became a skilled mechanic and eventually bought into Eichenberg Motors.

"I was part owner and part mechanic, and I liked it," Murray said. "In those days, you listened and knew what was wrong. You fixed things; now you replace things."

"We would always go to the car shows in the fall," Edna said. "When mini-vans first came out, I said they’d never sell. But we got one and we always had them after that. Our kids still like them."

Edna was a stay-at-home mom, and she loved it. She reflected on how families have changed, but she remembers hearing a very influential television personality stating that it's the most important job in the world.

"My daughter told me recently: ‘You were always there’," Edna said. "I liked cooking. At the end of the summer, I would have shelves full of fruit, pickles, jams, tomato juice, and apple juice. I made a lot of the kid’s clothes until they started wearing jeans, and I made my own clothes a lot too."

The Sandhams remember the overhead bridge that you had to go over to get into town, the Town Hall, and the Carnegie Library.

"There were bakeries downtown," Edna said. "There was a big department store on the corner, (Heaths), the post office, Bell Telephone, banks, the Metropolitan store by the main stop light and the Chainway store. I remember there being a lot of ladies’ wear and men's shops, Lady Anne's dress wear, and Winter’s Menswear. There were three movie theaters in town, but everybody has TVs now. As a kid, if you ever went out at all, you went to the movies."

Murray, who was on town council for several years, recalls the tearing down of the town hall and the building of the mall, but it was all part of progress, and it was good for the people of the town.

The traffic has changed over the years, Edna added, and the pace of life is different now. She sometimes worries about her great-grandchildren and what things will be like for them.

"What are they going to have to face?" Edna said. "Every generation changes; one generation is one thing, and the next, and the next changes again; lifestyles, point of view, technology."

The building and growth has been amazing, but the Sandhams still live in their first house, although it is no longer a dead-end street and the fields have been replaced by neighbourhoods. They've made some changes, finishing the basement and building a garage, and Edna added that they spent twice as much renovating the kitchen as the house originally cost.

They worked hard, and enjoyed the results. High levels of sales earned them trips, and they travelled widely, from Hawaii and Bermuda to Alaska and the Yukon. Destinations across Canada were often their favorite places to visit, and their cottage on the French River (eight miles up the river by boat) and nearby Lake Nipissing hold many special memories.

"Canada is a beautiful place," Edna said. "I love seeing the country and the beautiful scenery."

The Sandhams had three children, and they now have eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

"Time goes by so fast," Edna said. "We were always so busy with family, and we're still busy with family!"

Edna described how they had big celebrations for their 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries, but for their 70th, they didn't want to make a fuss.

"It was what we wanted," Edna said. "So, we said nothing, then we started getting these cards. They came from the States, New Zealand, all over, but most of them were local. It was astounding. It was wonderful to read the personal messages.”

Their daughter Joyce, knowing how much they enjoy receiving cards in the mail, had invited her Facebook community to help them celebrate by sending them a card. They received over 100 cards, many with heartfelt handwritten greetings.

“I think when you go into marriage you don't always think it's going to be a bed of roses,” Edna said. “There's ups and downs. You're going to have differences and I think you should. But you know that you're there for each other. When we came out of church on our anniversary, we were going to have a little cake and ice cream for everybody, but we were shocked to see that all our friends were there waiting to celebrate with us. Tillsonburg has been a good place, it's a town that is welcoming."