Who I am and the story I’ve lived.. (sorry this page is still unfinished)

I’m a helper. I’ve always been a helper. Dating right back to being in my grandmas kitchen in a small rural town in southern Alberta… Those were the days she would assign me the job of filling the salt and pepper shakers and reorganizing the stacks of Rubbermaid bowls her cupboards. My grandma was raised to be a good caregiver, and throughout the 80’s and early 90’s she trained me to be the same. I loved helping my grandparents, and I spent long days there in my childhood. I believe that being a helper for so many years of my life was what led me into counselling.

After the birth of my first child at barely 19 years old… What can I say? None of us are immune to difficulty. Especially me, a wild teenager with a fiery spirit (and temper to match). I was a high school drop out, and falling into a bad pattern with boys and wild parties. What was I looking for? What was I chasing? It wasn’t until many years into my healing journey that I would come to discover the gapping empty hole within my heart that I was trying to fill with relationship. This was my first experience with addiction. Not all addiction is substance use. Many fall under the disguise of unhealthy lust and boy did it grab hold of me!

Unbeknownst to me, having that plump little boy with all that energy would be what saved my life. After all, I was a helper, and God knew I needed someone to devote my life to. Within months of finding out I was pregnant, I went back to school and obtained my high school GED so I could apply to college for my program of choice. Having my son meant the world to me, and I knew I needed to step up to provide for him.

My academic journey led me a program specializing in addiction… In the beginning, I thought my career would be centered around helping others. What I didn’t realize until much later was that my education was really about helping myself. It was 2003 and I was just starting pull the pieces together. My program in university focused primarily on substance use, but then I continued on to complete a university degree that brough substance use together with mental health. It was here that I learned the impact trauma
can have on addiction later in life, and the importance of good relationship building between counsellor and client.

When my youngest two children were only infants, tragedy struck our world… In 2013, we were involved in a violent highway collision that forever changed our lives. We were travelling home in our motorhome from a fun filled family reunion, when a heavy duty F-550 truck barreled into us at what must have been close to 140km/hour. The kids, buckled in their safety seats at the dinette were the most protected from harm. However, the abrupt impact of the vehicle hit us directly on the drivers side of our motorhome. Its hard to imagine that I almost lost the most incredible and most important man I’ve known in my life. We would only discover later that Trev suffered a major concussion and nerve damage to his spine that day. I could have never known leaving the family reunion that bright and sunny day that within the next hour, my world would change entirely and forever.

— (I’m still adding to this piece, thank you for your patience)

Most recently, however, my career in counselling has thrusted me towards learning something greater about why we are here, what this life is all about, and more importantly about cultivating a personal relationship with God.

Today I am mother to 3 children and together with Trevor for the last 16 years. Trevor is also active in the helping field, working to support individuals in active recovery from addiction.