Thanks Ginny for getting us started.
Hello all!
I am so sorry that
I am missing this reunion-WOW! I can’t believe it has been 45 years since we
all graduated.
I am going to fill you in on
what I have been doing for the past 45 years, give or take….
After graduation, I worked
for 3 years as a Public Health Nurse at the Borough of York, teaching Prenatal
Classes, doing postnatal visits to new mothers and their babies and assisting
in a Catholic School as a School Nurse a few days a week. As a school nurse, I
was asked to assist in teaching some classes on Health which included
information about puberty, changes in our bodies as we get older and some basic
sex education information. I worked in an area near Annette and Jane where
there were many Maltese families, most of whom had never told their daughters
about menstruation…. I was kept very busy.
In 1974, I had my daughter,
Tory in August and from that point became a stay at home Mom. Two and a half
years later came our son, Graeme. In 1977, my husband Rob was transferred to
Calgary- we gathered up everyone, Graeme was just 3 months old and moved to
Cowtown.
It was a huge adjustment,
uprooting, leaving my mother (my father had died my last year of Nursing
School), my aunt to whom I was very close and my brother taking off to the
other side of Canada. My life became very busy, meeting new friends, getting
involved with the children and their schools. I even became a “Brown Owl” for
Tory’s Brownie group. These years with the kids were busy as also for most of
you.
I went through a great deal
of turmoil after my marriage to Rob ended. I worked for a while in the travel
business for a travel agency in charge of finding new corporate accounts. At
the time, one of my friends in our neighbourhood, who was a Broker Owner at a
RE/MAX Office nearby, suggested that I take the Real Estate course emphasizing
that “nurses make great realtors”. So…off I went in an entirely new direction
in life. I was a member of a Breakfast Club, members were in all different
businesses and we shared ides and experiences. The Breakfast Club encouraged me
to go into real estate and I also had lots of support from my close friends. So
like the Nike saying “Just Do It” and “Do It Now” became my mottos in life and
have applied to me these last 30 years. I enjoyed working in residential real
estate. In 1990, I completed my first and only Marathon in Honolulu after
taking a course at the University of Calgary “How to Run Your First Marathon”.
I met some wonderful people during those 5 months.
I was a single parent for 4
years but that did not stop me from traveling and having exciting new
experiences…I went to Club Med a few times in Mexico and St Lucia, travelled
alone to Australia in 1990. The kids were growing up and I was fortunate to
meet my future husband, Tim Casey skiing in Whitefish, Montana just after I ran
the Honolulu Marathon. We married in 1994 and he became an amazing step Dad to
Tory and Graeme. Tory was off at University the first year we were together but
Tim had a great influence on Graeme, who was in Grade 10 that year. Tim was a
Commercial realtor and it really helped him understand the nature of my
business, which kept me very busy on weekends and evenings.
Being in our own businesses, we
were able to take lots of time off. Tim and I started to travel extensively
after we met. Trips included a train trip through India, flying throughout
Australia in a friend’s Cessna 210 for a month, Scuba and Snorkelling in the
Maldives, visiting Sri Lanka, sailing in the Caribbean, traveling to Turkey, a
trip to Peru and Machu Picchu and most recently a trip to the South Pacific
including New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, Vanuatu and the French Polynesian
Islands. As you read this now, we are on a trip to Scotland, Ireland and
England from May 27 until June 18.
I retired from real estate 5
years ago and at that time, we sold our condo in Calgary and moved to our
modest cottage at Gull Lake, just northwest of Red Deer, Alberta. At the same
time we bought a house in Fort Myers in southwest Florida, close to Sanibel
Island on the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida. My brother has a house there and
our children live and work in Toronto so it is easy for them to come and visit.
This past winter our kids and 2 grandkids came to visit us twice at Christmas
and Easter. Florida has become a real family home and it is wonderful to spend
time with my brother and sister in law also. We play golf, tennis, bicycle and
spend time at the beach along with socializing with some wonderful new friends
that we have met.
All the very best to you all!
Have a blast (in the past!) I am including some photos. A caveat…I am allergic
to hair dye, hence the hair colour!!!
Cheers…a toast to you all!!
Ginny Robinette Jennings
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