Marquis is a town, no a village... no.. actually I think it narrowed down to the official title of hamlet.. trust me this is true.. I always remember saying the population of Marquis was around 100 .. always for the past 20 years.. but in reality I don't think we ever knew how many people actually lived there... There was always this gap between the numerous amounts of old people that we lost count of.. and all the kids that went to school.. At good old St. Marks.. (which those bastards at the Thunder Creek School Board closed down a few years ago - I still think we should have started their buses on fire Jaime.. or did we discuss that? Or was I just evilly thinking it during the board meeting? hehehe.. Nice Fucking Boots). The town is of course in Saskatchewan and like 30 miles NW ? of Moose Jaw.. So you know we were never that far from "normal" people. I say normal because well, we weren't normal.. hell.. we still aren't.. and I must say proud of it..
My family and me lived in Marquis, on McFadden street until I was three and our house burnt down or something.. i don't remember.. anywho so we moved out onto the farm (1 mile west of Marquis), where I'm assuming we built a house.. and it's a pretty damn nice house with a pool and stuff.. (not so boonies after all, heh).. But how many kids can say that life consisted of building rafts to swim in the ditches after the massive rainstorm of August.. or riding the quad through the fields and taking jumps or in my case flipping the quad head over after hitting a straw pile and breaking the front wheel.. riding my horse 3 miles to pick up my friend to go horseriding.. hanging out at 'the store' to make fun of Old Man Gasper or to run around having waterballoon fights, jumping on the trampoline with the water sprinkler underneath, having boxing matches (jaime) while wearing dresses.., my brother and I riding our bikes into town after supper to play kick-the-can with the townies.. (we didn't really call you townies, i just thought it sounded good..) , SPORTS DAYS, BONSPIELS (do you city kids even know what these things are).. I could go on and on and on...
Because we had limited entertainment options, we sadly got our kicks by torturing each other with (you're my best friend one week, and the next week you're my enemy). But did it ever make us stronger because of it, we learned at an early age that sometimes your friends will stab you in the back and sometimes they'll step on your drinking box and smash your cookies! But amazingly enough, the group of us came out of it with a greater appreciation of each other and this sort of bond that will always tie us to Marquis.. it's something that will remain untouched by distance, or time, or change in life.. While it's not always obvious, it's something we will feel deep down forever.. Ok enough sap.. There is one girl in particular that we always hurt and while we inevitably still find some of these moments funny, we were really a bad group of people. What surprises me more is that she is that strong of a woman that she can now drink with us and spend time with the people who made her childhood hell.. I am truly sorry that we ever felt it was ok to do that to anyone.. it appals me now.. But I hope she knows now just how sorry we are and how much we do care about her.. so..
When I was young, I always felt the need to live up to what my sister had become.. My love for horses and for riding, stemmed from what was her love and her hobby and now her career. Since i was a little girl, I wanted nothing more than to be just like her.. that's what all sisters want right? So I spent my childhood riding and showing horses, riding my bike to town, playing 'house', picking rocks in the field, visiting my neighbour Pam, sleepover parties with the girls, picking weeds in the trees (every farm kids' worst nightmare), and swimming in the pool. Also receiving all the handmedown sweaters and sweatshirts from my sister (the fact that these articles of clothing contain the word 'sweat' sorta sickens me now). And every massive fight I had with my brother Johnny Boy..