Monday, January 14, 2019
My memories of my cousin George are mainly during our teenage years in Toronto. George�s parents, Tony and Jean, lived about three blocks away from us. Our fathers owned and operated the family business, Eastwood Fruit and Produce Company, in Scarborough. Each summer George, his brother John and I earned our spending money working in the business. We got out of bed as early as 5:30 in the morning and would arrive at work by 6:00 am. The work involved a lot of heavy lifting, the worst case being the unloading of a railway car full of 100 pound bags of potatoes. George was very strong and a very hard worker. Being a little older, he was given responsibility first, including dealing directly with customers and manoeuvring the trucks around the parking lot. John and I couldn�t wait to be old enough to do that. The highlight of the work day was the arrival of the catering truck at 8:00 am, when we all stopped for a coffee and a hot honey bun and swapped stories and jokes. George was the first one to swear in front of his Dad. The three of us became very close. We looked up to George for his wisdom and common sense. He had a good sense of humour and was always kind and thoughtful. My favourite story of George occurred during his �miracle year� 1965. Our fathers were selling tickets for a fundraiser for the Wishing Well Lions Club. The first prize was a new car. The tickets were three for $5, but we were only earning about $25 or $30 per week. George bought three tickets and then proceeded to tell everyone, on a daily basis, that he would win the car. On August 20, 1965, he celebrated his 20th birthday, he married the love of his life, Virginia and, yes, he won the car. Thereafter, we mainly saw George at family gatherings, but his and Virginia�s taking in and caring for the many foster children over the years is a great source of pride to the Cannata clan. We send our condolences and love to Virginia and George�s family. He was a wonderful human being. Cousin Ron Cannata and Uncle Joe and Auntie Laura
