So many days, now heavy as we rot through this war. We have become so much bigger since you took the rails out west. The kids you so much, but we all understand that your hard work is an essential part of the war effort. Cousin Edward writes very often from the trenches in France, his letters are short and bleak. He writes of the mud, the frostbite, and the boom of the guns as a call that seems to go on forever. And I have no clue what it is like for him — pray every day that he comes home to us whole. Closer to home, your brother Joseph has now enlisted with the No. 2 Construction Battalion. As an Indigenous man, he is discriminated against, even while serving his country. But his spirit is still powerful, and he reminds me that we are all battling for something bigger than us. I have also done some remote work for the Canadian Red Cross at home. I sew bandages and send packages to soldiers to feel like I am part of this fight. And the neighborhood women have banded together, which is reassuring to know that we are not the only ones working on that. Henry assists me in the garden and Margaret dreams of a world free from war; the children are growing. Stay strong, my love. We’re counting the days until you come home.

All my love, Clara

We can hardly believe how different our world has become since the 1920s. The Great Depression robbed our family and so many others of so much. Dad is still struggling to find steady work after being laid off from the railroad. It breaks my heart to see him search and search day in and day out — he never gives up. Mom has picked up sewing jobs from the neighbors and we have all learned to make do. Still, there are nights that none of us sleep with a full stomach. For too long I have remained passive. I cannot wait any longer. Which is why I take part in the On-to-Ottawa Trek. It's low and high pain, but standing next to some of the hardest, never-quit men in the world helps me power through. We feel hope for the future, and the same thing when we look back: families like ours should not have to suffer like this. We need to be heard by the government — we are not only fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for all the people that have been ignored throughout this crisis.

I love and miss you Maggie, hope you're watching over mom and dad. Let them know I am okay and will write sometime soon.

Love, Henry

The world has been turned upside down by this war. We hear the reports on the radio every day about the battles in Europe, and each one brings me hope and dread. Edward is overseas, still fighting in France. Even the last letter from him, short, was having stories about the courage of his friends in Normandy. But then he puts these words down on the page: Every night I pray that he comes home safe. Even in our lives here at home, so many things are now different. I am taking a job inside a munitions factory where I work long weeks to create the shells and armor our troops will use. It's hot and greasy and the labor is intense, but I feel useful. Women such as me have stepped into roles we never dreamed of before, leaving me full of this weird mix of independence that’s thrilling and terrifying all at once.

Mom and Dad are managing as well as they can, although I can imagine they are forever panicking over Edward now, and me too. And yet, somehow, our family is strong enough that we push through.

Love, Margaret

“The War in the West, 1914.” Encyclopædia Britannica, January 4, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I/The-war-in-the-west-1914.

“Women in WWI.” National WWI Museum and Memorial. Accessed January 4, 2025. https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/women#:~:text=With%20millions%20of%20men%20away,rare%20cases%2C%20on%20the%20battlefield.

“On-to-Ottawa Trek National Historic Event.” Parcs Canada. Accessed January 8, 2025. https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1781#:~:text=A%20defining%20event%20of%20the,and%20wages%20directly%20to%20Ottawa.

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Internment of Japanese Canadians | the Canadian encyclopedia. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/internment-of-japanese-canadians.

Woman working in a munitions factory during the Second World War. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/student-research-portal/learning-resource-themes/war/defence-equipment-and-weapons/woman-working-munitions-factory-during-second-world-war#:~:text=Shows%20a%20woman%20at%20work,market%20and%20other%20social%20changes.