Gil (English Edition)

A mid-thirties bachelor living in a rooming house in Winnipeg, Manitoba, begins a relationship with the children of the house’s female caretaker. Eventually becoming a father figure and second husband, his life begins to fundamentally change the lives of those around him for the better. A heartfelt tribute to the nobility of the everyman in modern society, Brian Borgford’s work of creative nonfiction tells the story of his father, a man who was able to craft a new dream from the tattered remnants of those he left behind. A thirty-five year-old bachelor living in a rooming house in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gil has the unenviable job of being a union organizer in 1947. Those facts all rolled together create a dull, isolated life that is far removed from the dreams of success and family that Gil has always had for himself. But when Mary and her six children move into the building, that one fateful ripple in the humdrum of Gil’s life changes everything he knew—or thought he knew—about his life’s direction. Developing a sense of responsibility and ownership of this family due to the father’s relative absence and philandering, Gil becomes involved in their day-to-day life in a meaningful way. His career begins to evolve as well as he starts to impact the lives of those involved in the union movement. And while his flaws and failings are evident, so too are his strengths and gifts, and before long he is able to craft a life that not long before he had all but given up on as a possibility. Exploring the triumphs and tragedies that provide life with meaning, author Brian Borgford’s debut is about family, fatherhood, and the personal relationships that give us hope. It is an ode to a less complicated time—and a tribute to a man whose simple gifts were perhaps deeper and more profound than even he realized. Preserving a time and place with care and reverence, Gil follows the lives of ordinary people dealing with the cards they are dealt—and finding dreams along the way.