Life With Grace

MC40_Grace_My mother was a homemaker and raised six children; our family relocated every three years with my father’s work. As time passed, I decided I too would serve my country and my community as a police officer; I also knew I wanted my children to have roots that would mitigate my shift work and my husband’s travel. How could I do it all?

The lady at the nanny agency put the pieces together. She had just received an application from a lady named Grace who had four children of her own. Grace wanted a job that was near her home and that would accommodate her own family care needs. It took only one meeting for Grace and I to decide we could work together. That day was also the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Whether scouting the garden shops together in the Spring or trading secret wish lists at Christmas, we have enjoyed each other’s company and supported each other when we were needed.

Her daughters babysat my children; my children were attendants at her daughter’s wedding; and Auntie Grace was the first one invited to school graduations and to my son’s wedding last summer. Over thirty years later we have eaten Trinidadian food, hosted friends and family from “back home”, and now are finally going to Trinidad to experience “back home” together. Our adventures continue! I wonder what my life would have been like without Grace…

- Margaret in Delta, BC