Adoption Reunion Story

Chapter Four

Nick and I married, on December 9, 1970, exactly 4 months after we'd met.  It was a justice of the peace wedding, with two strangers as witnesses.  But we didn't care -- we were defying Immigration, because we were sure that they would have stopped us if they'd had a chance. We hitch hiked a lot, to Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario, and to Vancouver, and the Okanagan, in B.C. over the next year to year and a half. I worried that if he didn't get work and settle down somewhere, he would get deported.

Meanwhile, Nick's mental problems soon became apparent.  He would get very depressed, often suicidal.  He would lose his temper, and threaten me.  Yet, I stayed with him, determined to "help" him.  Looking back, of course, this was ridiculous, but at the time I truly thought I could 'save' him from himself.

Nick would grow restless, whenever we stayed in one place for long, and then he would simply take off, disappearing for days or even weeks at a time.  Although Immigration had told him he was not to leave Canada during this period, he did so, then would have to come back across the border, risking the wrath of the government, or worse -- to be kept in the U.S. and away from me permanently.

Chapter Five 0f 9

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Text contents on these pages copyright 
Trish S. 2004