Letters from the Manse

Marie T. Gillis is a member of the Angus L. Macdonald Library staff at
St. Francis Xavier University.

Colborne was a young newlywed in 1949, when she and her husband moved to
Prince Edward Island to take up his posting as United Church minister in
Springfield West. For the better part of the next 15 months, she wrote
once a week to their families: one letter, with copies going to his
parents and hers, his brother, and her sister. Fortunately for the rest
of us, there was one onionskin copy left, which went into her files and
was resurrected decades later.

Letters from the Manse is delightful, and this is largely due to
Joan’s appealing personality. Despite winter storms that isolated them
for days or even weeks at a time, questionable plumbing, a car that
curiously rebelled on Sunday mornings, and continual loads of laundry
and other housekeeping chores, she relates their experiences with good
cheer and a deep appreciation for those people who made their life full:
friends and family who kept in constant touch by mail, caring and
generous neighbours, and, later, Michael, their son.

Life was predominantly about work, both congregational and domestic,
but there were also amusements. For those of us who worry about losing
the CBC in these financially beleaguered times, the Colbornes’
reliance on its radio broadcasts for entertainment is familiar and
heartwarming. Church social events also took the edge off loneliness,
although the formal structure of her relationship with members of the
congregation was not conducive to close friendships.

Above and beyond all this, though, is the obvious love that existed
between Joan and Blair Colborne. It is very endearing to read the new
bride’s frequent references to “my husband,” and she repeatedly
assures their family that they both quite like married life. There are
even discreet hints of a happy physical relationship.

Letters from the Manse takes us back to an age less dominated by
technology and more attuned to the rhythms of nature. In the midst of
our modern, hectic lives, spending an evening in Joan’s company is a
refreshing respite.