Gratitude 55
September 28, 2025 – My Birthday Month is Coming
It’s hard to believe that it’s almost October. I’m still stuck on “where did July go?” Time is certainly flying by. The weather is a good indication that it’s FALL. I do love the rainy weather. It reminds me of the coast. But, I also love the changing colour of the leaves. Fall is my most favourite season in the Central Interior, and this area has four distinct seasons. There is a lot to love about this time of year… and it’s my BIRTHDAY MONTH. Can you believe that I’m turning 55? I can’t. I think that I was 37-years old for a very long time… and now, I’m 55.
I remember when my dad turned 55. We were in Prince Rupert. His birthday is May 19th. So, if he was 55, I was 22 (turning 23 that year). My kid is 22-years old right now. This year is very full circle for me. I have an image in my head (a memory, I suppose) of us having a family dinner at Galaxy Gardens, our Chinese restaurant of choice. We were sitting on the dining room side in one of the closed off areas with the large round tables. My dad was “cutting the cord” with Mark’s tennis ball (don’t ask… LOL) and we presented him with a Canuck jersey with “FREEDOM 55” written on the back of it. Mark must have been graduating from university and my dad was retiring from the pulp mill. Turning 55 was a big deal for my dad and it was a day of celebration.
I’m beginning to question the timing and location of this celebration… soon after he retired, they went to China for a handful of years (to figure out how to make pulp from long grass) and then moved to the Lower Mainland. Mark and I lived in the condominium my parents purchased after they left Prince Rupert. I think the timing is right. I think I just graduated from my Bachelor of Science and hoping to enter the teacher education program after the summer. And yes, I was in Prince Rupert and worked at the gift shop at the Museum of Northern British Columbia. Huh. This memory of my dad’s 55th birthday was very clear… very joyful. And, I do recall there is a photo of us in the restaurant with one image of my dad “cutting the cord” and another image with my dad holding up the jersey. Freedom 55 is not quite how I’m entering this lifespan milestone. I think I’m entering it with lots of gratitude.
First of all, I’m early to mid-career at the university. This employment (hopefully) will not end any time soon (even though I see lots of my friends retiring from the K-12 school system). I am really enjoying the work and I am learning lots. I have finally come to a place in this work where I am very content and feel that I have lots of agency (and freedom) to engage in academia and teaching that brings me a lot of joy and on-purpose to contribute back to K-12 education (and teacher education). I am really enjoying the work and believe that I am where I need to be. Second, I am still living with my kid. This co-habitation has been absolutely wonderful for me. As we both transition into “adulthood,” we are able to live together and support one another in our new home (hence the patio-pic image above). I just love our place and I am very happy living here. We have all the amenities we need, we have space to live (with strata doing lots of the outdoor maintenance), and we love the location. We are only 8 minutes away from the university. Finally, life has taken many left turns to lead us here in Prince George. I have never been happier. And for that, I am grateful.