When We Were Younger

William Ryan's memoirs are compelling; they provide a glimpse of his life growing up in Pakenham Township during the early 20th century. He witnessed so many events throughout his life, reflected in his positive words about local, good-hearted people. Some are funny, like an encounter with a balking milking machine; while some are tragic: losing three family members in a car accident at a CPR train crossing in 1919, and most devastatingly, the sudden loss of his beloved wife in January of 1945, leaving him with a family of ten children to raise just before the end of World War II.

Ryan's words are transcribed exactly as written, to preserve his tone and understanding as best as possible for readers both in and out of his family. They are supplemented with scanned letters, newspaper headings, and other pertinent documents of the time to better establish both the timeframe and world around him as he was writing.