As a young girl, the sight of a horse jumping in slow motion on television moved Amelia to tears.

She loved horses, observed them closely, drew, painted, and rode them. Her lifelong affinity with nature and animals, strong physicality and keen eye flourished on the farm.   

In 1989, York Dance scholar Kerry Flaman interviewed Amelia about her life and recorded that Amelia had planned to be a dancer, biologist, veterinarian and farmer.  Mention is also made of Amelia’s grandmother Rose, who’d once been in a theatre troupe.  As a small child, Amelia longed to adopt Rose’s stage name, Tundrafire, and would dress up in crinolines to dance for the Romanian relatives. Before dying of leukemia, the story goes, Grandmother Rose extracted a promise from Amelia’s mother that she’d enroll Amelia in dance class.  

Amelia's nephew Jeff Itcush adds: “Grandmother Rose was a gentle soul. I’ve never heard of the background you mention. She was, however, thoughtful enough to leave our family crown land rights, making us one of few families with rights to sub-surface resources in the area."