Home is the heart of it

Today's effort was a struggle to write. I have gone over this multiple times but can't come up with what I really wanted to say. So, I'll just copy the text into this post and hopefully tomorrow morning I will get inspired.
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Michael and Catherine McGrath’s growing family kept their small rented home on Baird St. a hive of activity. Five lively sons under the age of 9, of whom Ned was the youngest, kept them busy. Baird St was in the middle of the bustling Irish Catholic neighbourhood where everyone knew their neighbours, shared stories of their early lives in Ireland, traded memories of their emigration journeys, and shared the news from home when someone received a letter. But the area was changing and they would all soon be displaced for the development of the area. With a growing sense of urgency, Michael decided to move “uptown”. The year was 1865. Canada was not even a country yet and Ottawa had a population of 7,000 souls. He was a pioneer in the city but even more so in the area later known as Mount Sherwood or Ashburnham Hill.

There really was no “town” near the new location. It was beyond the city limits. Few actual streets divided the area and access was a challenge. Michael had found a property at what is now the corner of Booth and Willow Streets, a distance of about 6 kilometers away. The first few kilometers were relatively easy to traverse with the family’s goods and chattles piled in a horse-drawn cart. However, the nearest roadway to their new home was Somerset Street - a good few hundred meters away from their new front door. From there Michael had to carry all of their belongings through what was essentially a cedar swamp. His young sons weren’t much help. But Michael had chosen the neighbourhood well. This area would eventually be a new centre of Irish life and the hard work and cooperation among the neighbours brought some much needed initiatives.