A cable arrives the night of April 26th to the Telegraph Station in the Wolselsey Barracks in London, Ontario, Canada. It is addressed to Deborah Ross Dixon. The next morning it is taken by a young man – a messenger – to be hand delivered to her. Deborah hears a knock on the door that morning . She cheerily walks down the hall and opens the front door to see who is calling this early in the morning. Deborah sees the telegraph messenger standing there with a piece of paper in his hands. She backs away. She is petrified and panic stricken. Her heart droops and starts beating uncontrollably fast. She can’t calm down. She thinks the worst. She wants the messenger to just leave. She wants to pretend he isn’t there. But he is there – and he hands her the envelope he is holding. She thinks the worst. Robert has been killed in action. She knew this day would come. She doesn’t want to open the letter, but somehow finally finds gets her courage up. Her hands are shaking as she fumbles to rip open the envelope. Her eyes have teared up making it hard for to even read the words printed there. ” We regret to inform you that Corporal Robert Dixon was” – and the next word is not killed – it is “wounded”. Relief. Deborah reads on . He is in a hospital in London, England. Deborah is still worried about her husband. How bad is the injury? She sees it is a Gun Shot Wound. To his leg. She breathes a sigh of relief. She calms herself down. She slowly starts to smile and tears up again, but this time with joy. She is overjoyed. Robert is no longer on the front line in France -yes he is wounded, but he is safe and sound in a hospital in Bermondsey London, England.
