Who we are and how we made it to Boomerdom.
The Times of my Life
My Life and Times
I am a true born and raised Alberta Girl. I was lucky enough to grow up in a rural farming community. I love the rustle of the wheat fields from the summer wind blowing across the plains, the smell of fresh cut hay after a rain ( a childhood memory that still calms me today) but most of all, I cherish the lessons I learned from my folks, everything from pulling calves, to feeding chickens and harvesting a massive garden. Canning and freezing the fall harvest of vegetables and pickling are skills I value and continue to use to this day. The life of a farm girl taught me about the benefits of hard work, great rewards, immeasurable friendships and a loving family that was there if needed.
Leaving the farm to embark on my own adventure as a young adult was bittersweet, but one I embraced. My adult life blessed me with children, watching them grow and find their own way has been rewarding and also worrisome at times.
Becoming an “empty nester” allowed me to follow my gypsy spirit, moving from place to place with my husband as the mood struck us to follow or renew our careers. This provided me with the opportunity to return to school, complete my Insurance broker education and finally follow my passion as an Employment Counsellor until my retirement.
I will always be a farm girl at heart, living in the city. I embark on another adventure with every new day whether it be travel, camping, fly fishing, exploring the local attractions or just relaxing in the back yard and contemplating my life. I love life in all its’ splendor and am happy to be here. I anticipate the Boomer-Life where I can embrace my quirks and unique humor and look forward to the next adventure with my husband who is my best friend.
Although I was born and raised in eastern Canada, I began the process of growing up in western Canada when at the age of 18, I moved to Alberta and started life without the benefit of a safety net. Like most young people who are looking for their place in the world a series of mindless jobs and bad choices were easy to come by. Having played high school football in Ontario, I had the privilege of playing junior football in the prairie junior football league with the Red Deer Packers. My early 20’s saw my career path take a decidedly good turn when the opportunity to apprentice as a heavy duty mechanic became available.
At that time in Alberta you could take training and become certified as an agricultural mechanic and then transfer into your 3rd year of heavy duty mechanics, giving you 2 tickets in 4 years. After a number of fulfilling years “pulling wrenches” and more than a few back injuries and prematurely aged knees I went back to school and got a college diploma in Computer Systems Technology. Without going through my technological career trajectory, I finally had the opportunity to combine my computer career with my mechanical background by accepting a position as a “Maintenance Planner” at a large mine in southern BC.
Now that I’m retired and people ask me if I miss working, I think back to a line from the movie Office space … “It looks like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately” … “I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it Bob”. Although there are times when I miss my co-workers, some of the challenges I overcame and working in the crystal clear air of a mountain top, I don’t miss getting up at 4:50 AM to be on a van by 5:30 AM to drive 80km to work in another province. (If the truth be known I still get up at 5 most mornings, but I just sit right down and have a second cup of “the bean juice of life”. Anyway, that’s me. I’m a Boomer, I’m still on the right side of the grass every morning and just like Tim McGraw says, I “Live like you were dying”. TTYL