This past week I had cause to remember one of my youngest son's profound observations. He was five and wanting to tell me a very important story of something that had happened to him at school. He started off by calling me Mrs. Chauley (his kindergarten teacher's name), then it was Grandma. Finally, in exasperation, he said, "Mom, I just have too many women in my life."
Where am I going with this, you may be wondering? Well, I apparently have too many Georges in my life.
One of the traps of editing your own work is seeing what you want to rather than what's actually there.
That's exactly what happened last week when I stated that Cec Chamberlin's great-grandfather was George Dawson instead of George Gibson, as I had intended. You see, George Dawson was the founder of Dawson Creek where I spent most of my life before coming to the Sunshine Coast. And, of course, George Gibson is the founder of my adopted hometown, Gibsons. That, folks, is my story - and I'm sticking to it.
My apologies to the Chamberlin family and sincere thanks that they appear to have as good a sense of humour as their late mom.
However, I thought of Patrick's anecdote for another reason.
Thursday, March 8, was International Women's Day, and I personally believe that none of us can ever have too many women in our lives.
In my life, I was blessed to have a grandmother who passed on a love of food and cooking, a mother who never took guff from anyone and an aunt who loved to read and write. For those of you who wonder where my persona may have come from, I invite you to reread the foregoing sentence.
In addition to my immediate family, I've also been very lucky to have known personally or vicariously through the written word many female mentors.
Several of them were teachers. The fact that I can remember the names of all but a very few tells you the impact they made in my life. In my opinion, really good teachers make you think. Some of them are totally lovable, such as my Grade 1 teacher in Bateman, Sask. (one of the two years I spent away from Dawson Creek). Mrs. McIvor managed to teach three grades in one classroom and never lose her cool. She also gifted me with every worn-out textbook in the school, much to the chagrin of my grandparents who were looking after me at the time.
I give Mrs. M. full credit for my love of reading. For those of you so inclined, blame her for unleashing a monster. For every teacher who may be feeling discouraged these days, please know that you can and do make a difference.
Other women who have mentored me include a Dawson Creek counsellor and several Sunshine Coast politicians who were willing to share their stories with other women and help them in any way they could. I think it's telling that all but two of the elected women officials on the Coast have taken part in the Women's Campaign Schools.
So I urge you to make this a weekend to thank all the women in your life -no matter how many there are.
