In my early days of doing Out of the Shadows someone wrote and asked to know about the writer. I wrote the following. A later person commenting on that page asked to know more about my Legion involvement. I’ll write about that later.
I’m middle age woman living in a small village in eastern Ontario. Always love that term “middle age”– middle of what age? Would that be middle of my life or just middle of the road? So, why not name the village? Well, as much as I want to think the best of people, safety is a factor.
So, what do I do with my life?
In my working life, or part of it, I’m an insolvency consultant. I work as a service provider for a firm which does debtor representation. When people get into debt difficulties, my job is to work with them to get the credit restructured based on ability to pay. That often means a filing under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. The BIA is meant to be rehabilitative. It helps people get back on their feet and get a fresh start. Most of the people I work with have gone through some sort of upheaval in their life which has thrown them off track financially. They want to pay their bills, just the ability to do so has gotten beyond them. Sort of like getting hit with a huge out control snowball. It just keeps getting bigger until it hits a wall and comes to a halt.
In another part of my work life, I’m a church secretary for an Anglican parish. It is also the parish I attend. So what is an Anglican? Well, in the US, we’re called Episcopalians, in the UK, Church of England is a term used. I’m part of the Anglican Church of Canada, specificially within the Diocese of Toronto. By virtue of being part of the Anglican Church of Canada, I’m also part of the worldwide Anglican Communion of which Canterbury, England is the heart.
It’s pretty hard to define an Anglican in a few words. Generally, we tend to be considered to be the middle way in a pretty broad spectrum of Christian practice. It is a church which has embraced diversity while living mostly in unity. Well, a few things rock the core of the church. There are those in Canada who will fight to the death to be able to use the Book of Common Prayer instead of that upstart Book of Alternate Service. There are those who will continue to rail against the ordination of women, 25 years plus after the church starting ordaining them and most recently those who are railing against the full acceptance of gays. Hey, what the heck… what fun is unity in diversity if we didn’t have some controversy to test it.
Me, I got enough sorting out me and where I am on the faith spectrum. I’m not into deciding if others are right or wrong. A good friend at the Legion once leaned over to me as we sat listening to a table of members gossiping about all and sundry and quietly said, “young Pat (I was young then), I have a step at my back door that every morning I go out to sweep. I’m kept so busy keeping that step clean, I don’t have time to look at other people’s step.” That has always stuck in my mind. I’m often reminded as I make my way through this life.
Ah yes, the Legion. I’ve been and remain a dedicated member of that great Canadian organization. Dedicated to the care of our aging war veterans and honouring not only their service but the sacrifice of all those who are no longer with us. So very very many who never got to come home. In many ways, the Legion is where I came to appreciate what it is to be a Canadian. I was the first woman to be the president of our local branch and remain so for six years. Some where along the line after I left office, the branch decided I should be made a Life Member. This is a high honour in the Legion, one that requires approval from Dominion Command.
In my quiet time, I love to read. My reading interests are many and varied. I’m driven more by what has caught my attention at any given time than any special interests. It keeps life interesting and always something to learn or be introducted to. Needless to say, the internet is like having a huge library to explore at any time without any need to drive to it.
So, there we go, a bit more about the writer.