U.S. land border reopening means Brockville, Ont. couple can finally be with sick mother
With the Canada-U.S. border planning to reopen in November, a Brockville, Ont. couple is both relieved and excited to finally be with their sick mother.
It was exactly the news Debbie and Mike Durham wanted to hear late Tuesday evening.
"That was so important because my mom has cancer and we're going over to look after her and we've sold everything we own so we can move across," said Debbie, holding back tears.
Inside their two-bedroom north-end apartment, boxes have already been packed. Now all they need is a date.
"If you want to see somebody run real quick to pack a car, you watch me!" said Mike with laugh.
The couple moved back to Brockville from Alliston in southwestern Ontario a year and a half ago to be closer to Debbie's 83-year old mother, Donna.
Debbie Durham's mother Donna Reed and husband John. (Supplied)
She lives in Ogdensburg, N.Y., directly across from Prescott, Ont. on the St. Lawrence River, and was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the pandemic began.
Debbie was able to visit her in December after getting permission to cross the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge from the Ogdensburg Port Authority.
"I could have stayed as long as I wanted but I didn't know that. I stayed with my mom for five days and then I came home and quarantined," Debbie said. "We've been waiting for that border to open to go across and it finally came!"
She was so excited by Tuesday night's news that she hardly slept through the night, waking her mom up Wednesday morning to tell her.
"I called her at 5 o'clock this morning and I said, 'Did you hear the news?', and she goes 'What time is it?' and its 5 o'clock and she said, 'What news?' and I said 'Mom, the border is reopening!' and she goes, 'What?' and my mom's crying and I'm crying and I'm like, 'Oh, my God," Debbie said.
Wearing the Ogdensburg t-shirts that Debbie's mother bought them, the couple said they can't wait to finally confirm a date when they will be able to cross.
The t-shirts Debbie Durham's mom bought her and her husband Mike in Ogdensburg, N.Y. (Nate Vandermeer / CTV News Ottawa)
"I'm raring to go," said Mike, who also has family in New York State.
"Every day, I'll be marking that calendar, just to see how many more days we have left," Debbie said. "As soon as we find out, the car is getting packed at night because we are going to be ready to cross that bridge the first thing in the morning."
"I have a lot of family in Ogdensburg, New York and I can't wait to see all of them," she said sobbing. "We've waited too long."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.