This Week February 21, 1990. Page M7

we

~ PRIME TIME

‘First pension cheque buys gift that keeps giving

hopping in the mall
the other day, 1 met a
friend. Mary had that
morning received her
_ first pension cheque. She had
it with her, safe in the old
handbag she habitually car-
ried. She opened the clasp and
showed me the envelope, al-
most as if by seeing it again
herself, she would become
convinced of its reality. This
was probably the first time in
her entire life that she had
had that amount of money in
a lump sum to call her own.

Mary’s life had been hard.
She and her husband had
accomplished what is now al-
most an impossibility; they
had raised a family and put
them all through college,
managing in the doing of it, to
stay out of debt and all from
the proceeds gleaned from a
quarter-section of land, and
not very good land, at that.

Seeing the way their par-
ents had to work and save, it
was not surprising that the
children chose other fields of
endeavor. In the end, Mary
and Henry sold the farm and
bought a small house here on
the Island.

But habits formed over a
lifetime are hard to break,
and they still live almost fru-

gally by today’s standards,
buying only what they abso-
lutely have to have. Their
home is comfortable but plain,
a simple frame two-bedroom
bungalow with full basement.
But it is small. So small that
it is virtually impossible to
escape the range of the sound
from the television set in the
corner of the livingroom. And
Henry, unaccustomed to so
much time on his hands, uses
the tube to fill his empty
hours. They seldom go out.

I took Mary shopping with
me one day when I had to go
for groceries, and I came
home thinking that most of
my purchases were downright
frivolous. How much of it did
we really need? There I was,
busily filling my cart, with
Mary trailing along behind,
carefully placing her few sta-
ples in the basket she carried.
No treats, no impulse buying,
only the items that were on
her list. I felt guilty. It was as
if my conscience was following
me.

But after the advent of the
cheque, I began to see some-
thing different about my
friend. There was a subdued

she passed it to me. It was a
picture of a radial-arm saw, a
good one, worth more than
just one pension cheque.

month. And I know that Hen-
ry will enjoy it once he has it,
now that he has the time to
spend ...”

== Goldenrod—

By IVY KENT

excitement about her. It was
controlled, beneath the sur-
face, but it was there and I
could feel it.

This was worth following
up. I took her arm and steered
her into a small cafe. We sat
down and I ordered coffee.
Mary placed her handbag on
the table and sat with her
hand on the clasp. She was
smiling, a small private smile.
I couldn’t help myself, I had to
ask.

“Just what are you plan-
ning to do with this windfall?”

For as we all know, subse-
quent cheques may be invest-
ed, banked or spent in very
circumspect ways. But that
first cheque is something else.
It is a flight of fancy, a shot of
adrenalin, found money

and to use it for any mundane
reason would be nothing short
of sacrilegious. It is a celebra-
tion, a pinnacle. It’s saying to
the world “Hey, I made it, I
really did. There were times
when I never thought I could,
but I have, and here I am.” It’s
like rare champagne, to be
savoured and enjoyed.

Mary looked down at her
coffee, stirring it slowly with
the spoon.

“Pye thought about it a lot,”
she admitted, glancing up
with a half-smile. There was a
pause. I waited and she con-
tinued to stir.

“Do you remember the chest
at the end of our hallway?”
she asked. I did indeed. It isa
beautiful piece of furniture.

“Henry made it,” she said.
“He used to be so good with
his hands.”

There was another long
pause. She’s not going to tell
me, I thought. Then she
opened her handbag and took
out a folded piece of paper.
Smoothing it out carefully,

“lm getting it next month,”
she said. “The man in the
store wanted me to take it on
credit. Imagine what Henry
would have said to that.”

She paused while we both.

thought about it.
“Anyway, after waiting all
this time, what’s another

I looked at her and shook
my head. I had thought of
something a little fancier, a
new coat, a new appliance
that would simplify her work,
or one that she might have
always wanted but not really
needed, or even a bit of a
holiday up-Island or to the

Mainland. I handed back the
clipping and told her that
such complete unselfishness
left me with a temporary loss
of words.

At that, she laughed aloud.”

“Unselfish? Me? Not by a
long shot. Think about it.”

And I did. I thought about
Henry working away happily
in his basement workroom, I
thought about Mary, sitting
quietly knitting in her favor-
ite chair in the living room,
and listening to her favorite
oldies on the radio. And final-
ly I imagined the television
set, silent in the corner, it’s
blank cyclopic eye conceding
defeat.

Then I had to laugh too,
toasting her with my coffee
cup. I couldn’t have thought of
a better use for that precious
first cheque.

February 24th (Saturday)

| support:

- responsible implementation of

the Year 2000 initiative

¢ consultation with community groups,
parents & employee groups
- block funding fair to Victoria taxpayers |

For SCHOOL TRUSTEE vote

BILL

BOYCHUK

STRIP BONDS

ABILITY TO MATCH LI
GUARANTEED YIELD, WOR

A free booklet was never worth more

This free booklet
from WOOD GUNDY tells
you everything you need

to know about a
Government-Guaranteed
investment vehicle called

STRIP BONDS are an unique RRSP instrument that offers

SAFETY, LIQUIDITY

It can be quite impressive!!

ABILITIES, POTENTIAL FOR CAPITAL GAIN
RY-FREE CONVENIENCE

At current rates, STRIP BONDS can TRIPLE your investment in 10 years
$10,498.30 invested February 21, 1990 will give you
$30,000.00 on July 1, 200

0 — GUARANTEED!!

Roderick L.

Send for your free booklet today

Mahrt

Wood Gundy Inc.
#301-1803 Douglas Street.
Victoria, B.C.

(604) 361-2207

Wood Gundy Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary
of The CIBC Wood Gundy Corporation, which Is itself, a
subisdiary of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (“CIBC”).

majority-owned