Many years ago, when our boys were just entering high school, our family left its roots in Saskatchewan. Due to a career change, in the middle of January and -30 temperatures, we and our two sons, along with our two cats, made a trek across the western provinces in two vehicles to our new digs in Prince Rupert, B.C.
If you don’t know where that is, it is about 90 miles as the crow flies from the Alaskan border and the isolated community of about a population of 10,000 on an island with a mountain in the middle that is joined to the mainland in only one location by a small bridge over a channel.
That was my first experience at isolation as we know it. Coming from a very close-knit network of family members on the prairies, I felt emotionally like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, along with everything and everyone I had known no longer near.
On the other hand, it was an exciting time to embrace a new life adventure; we had never been this way before…
For quite some time, I remembered feeling like I was in another world. Demographically, the location is much different, but so are the people where environment and life experience moulds individuals into certain careers conducive to where they live. The coastal environment of grizzly-bearded fishermen wearing yellow rain slickers and rubber boots is still embedded in my recollection. Not really where I would have dreamed I would be, ever.
This area is a man’s world…a hiker’s paradise where you can fish, go golfing and also skiing on the same day in the winter months. It’s a rain-forest but let me emphasize, not tropical — temperatures barely ever reach the mid-twenties in the summer with a cool off-shore breeze but in the winter. The good news is there is very seldom snow. Let me tell you about the rain…it comes down sideways and pelting hard most days, sounding like a freight train running through your house. Skies are almost always grey and depressive and umbrellas don’t help a lick in the torrential downpours.
So, in all of this we lived. I was not a happy girl for quite some time, but because of commitment to endure for a season and with a love for my family, we made it through 13 years there.
I did not only endure but after all was said and done, I thrived. We made the best of things and embraced the season at hand and explored the region, and also invested in lifelong relationships. It was worth every minute. I grew as a person from a so-called 'chicken-little' to someone with a greater willingness to go out of my comfort zone to appreciate different experiences. Because we needed to rely on each other for emotional support, our family unit became much stronger.
In this world, you realize that the external environment might change but it’s what happens on the inside of each of us that will keep us through in trying times.
During this time, do not let fear grip your heart but keep emotionally strong for yourself and others, focused on better days ahead. As the old adage goes, “Do your best and let God take care of the rest!”
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
