IRWIN

In seeking background material for The Urbariginal podcast, I originally asked the two eldest siblings but one declined and the other is too ill. So, I turned to the next oldest, Irwin.

Always helpful, Irwin said yes and, after a nice lunch at one of the local pubs, we went out to Port Ed so he could show me his and the family’s old haunts.

I was too young to remember much of Port Edward and Irwin was able to show me where we lived, where certain buildings were, and where the rock fights took place. Apparently, he and my oldest brother, Jeff, were notorious rock-slingers that other boys always had to be on the lookout for. Guys like the late Clarence Martin and famed indigenous artist, Dempsey Bob, were common victims of their wicked aim.

Indeed, it was Irwin’s tales of throwing rocks from under the dock at naked bums in the outhouses above that inspired my slingshot revenge scene in my novel, ALL NATIVE.

When Irwin speaks, he is very straightforward. There’s no hinting about or suggesting, no innuendo. He just tells it as he saw it, with complete sincerity.

The story of my dad reacting to a man threatening to shoot him by taking the end of the barrel and putting it against his chest and telling him to “go ahead and shoot me” was one of many that shocked me.

I was saddened by the story of my dad telling Irwin that he was being sent to reform school because he was bad and “it’s your own fault,” and then returning to get from my dad what “I think was the last time he hugged me.”

As I grew up in Prince Rupert, my dad’s violence became more frequent and when he came home drunk and angry, Irwin was often the first line of defense. We all took shots from my dad, at one time or another, but Irwin was the biggest kid and often put himself before us.

And yet, Irwin was very funny. His odd and dark sense of humor rubbed off on me, although I don’t use it as liberally as him - which may surprise most of my friends!

Laughter, as inappropriate as it was and coming from the darkest places, was something we all needed back then.

Irwin was also very generous and he, and some of the other siblings, would pay me generously to run out for hangover medicine like freezies at the store or Mr. Mistys at the Dairy Queen, both of which were five minutes away. I also ran and got the latest Marvel comics, a passion we shared.

Today, Irwin sits for my son Conall, and we occasionally have a games night or watch sports, sometimes a movie.

He also goes to garage sales every weekend, even though he still has a container full of junk he should be getting rid of.

He, like all of us, still has things he needs to let go.