"Since I run my own business, it was just out of reach," he said. He said "the time factor" was a barrier because of COVID-era requirements to quarantine on both ends of the trip. "We've been saying all along we could always fly down and see them," but never did, the elder Wilson said. Her Canadian grandfather Jack said he was grateful a kind of neutral zone exists between the two countries. I got to see my family and my little cousin and everyone!" chimed in 6-year-old Zoe, who was part of the American contingent of Wilsons. It's been a long time since we've been together as a family. "It means a lot to us just to get together. "First time I've seen that little girl in our life," said Wilson, beaming from cheek to check. Three generations of the Wilson family came prepared for a full day in the border park on Saturday, bringing with them a portable fire pit, camping chairs, blankets, a picnic and story books.įamily patriarch Jack Wilson of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, said his descendants live on both sides of the border, including a new baby granddaughter from Chehalis, Washington. At eye level below is the phrase, "May these gates never be closed." "Children of a common mother," it reads up high on the arch under the two countries' flags. Last weekend, well more than a thousand people of all ages and races, speaking a Babel of languages, spread out across the manicured lawns on the American side of the cross-border park.įew showed interest in the park's namesake 100-year-old gleaming white arch whose inscription rings a bit hollow now. In the meantime, every weekend rain or shine, Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington, becomes a happening meetup point for couples and families separated by the northern border.īefore the pandemic, it would be typical in late winter to encounter around 50 people visiting the state park and adjoining provincial park on a weekend afternoon. It's anybody's guess when the border might reopen for discretionary trips. and Canada closed their shared border to nonessential crossings due to the pandemic. This coming Sunday, March 21, will mark one year since the U.S.
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