Nancy

I was born in Kingston and was brought up Roman Catholic. I went to a separate school board school and had a sheltered upbringing. On Sundays, I went to church, went to mass, and then went home. It was a day where you just did family things. I had a very comforting family life.

When I turned 19, I went to Belleville Loyalist College. For the first year, I was in general education for being a social worker, and then I specialized in childhood and youth work at St. Lawrence College back in 1971–72. Then I got my education in landscaping and business management. I was drawn to this because I really enjoyed gardening and still do. I did a couple of short-term courses in business and took the landscaping course by correspondence. The title is “qualified landscape gardener.” You can charge as much as you want. My rate 30 years ago was $15 an hour, and at the time, people were charging $60 an hour, but they were with a company.

I really like dogs and I know a lot about them. When I first moved in with my ex-husband, he bought a dog and then another dog and another dog. I’ve known him now for 25 years, and he has a dog pack. The dynamics are very interesting. I don’t know that much about what they do, but they all have their part in the pack. I’m kind of embarrassed to say that my ex-husband lives across the hall from me in our apartment building, but it means that I can help him out with the dogs.

Both of my parents have died. My dad died 25 years ago and my mom passed away three years ago. He was 80 and she was 96. She was the same age as the Queen. My dad was in World War II and had his leg amputated below the knee from a battle. He was also a prisoner of war for a few months to take care of his leg and was pronounced missing in battle. He was in a German camp, and it was one of the last battles of the war when he poked his head out of the cabin and started the battle. He’s had to have had that torment over the years, but he got a government desk job working at the employment centre.

Everything today is so different — from no longer mainly listening to the radio to seeing cities that were small and now have giant skyscrapers. But I have good memories.