Aamjiwnaang First Nation (Sarnia) —
Gordie was busy making lunches for his girls, Zoe and Lexi, one March morning. That’s when he and Bev glanced outside their new custom Royal Home and saw a four-legged visitor. “Holy crap, there’s a deer right outside our door!” said Bev, recalling the couple’s surprise.
Gordie, Bev, Zoe and Lexi
That was almost a year ago when a friendly deer with a front leg that was not quite right started showing up regularly at Bev and Gordie’s home. Lexi woke up to see the deer right outside her window.
“The girls just call him ‘Limpy’ because he’s got a gimpy foot,” Bev said. Limpy is a welcome guest at this lovely home where greetings in Ojibwe and Oneida — Aanii and Shekoli — meet all visitors on the front porch. One morning since the girls were catching the bus out front when four deer gathered in the yard. The deer started running around in a circle on their street.
‘Limpy’ the deer
“It was pretty cool,” Bev said. Watching the deer from the big display window in the front of the home is a pleasure. Bev has gotten a lot of pleasure out of a window she wasn’t sure she wanted at first. “At first, everyone loved it but I did not love it,” Bev recalled. “Now, that’s where the Christmas decorations go. We have a pretty garland there. It’s nice to decorate that space.”
Most of Bev and Gordie’s attention so far has been focused on making the inside of their Royal Home as “homey” as can be for the girls. “Everyone that comes over is amazed at how much space there is,” Bev said.
A year later, the Royal Homes experience has been wonderful for Gordie, Bev and the girls. “Royal Homes is awesome,” Bev said. “We just want to rave about it as much as we can. Anyone who asks questions about it, we tell them to stop by the house. ‘Come see and we’ll help you with any questions, anything we didn’t think to do when we were building.’ You can get so overwhelmed because there are so many options.”