PN takes a deep breath, and plunges forward! … …

Daily writing prompt

What sacrifices have you made in life?

Dammit, WordPress, this writing prompt took me by surprise. Am I willing to air my dirty laundry online for posterity (or at least data mined by machine learners to eventually make a 21st century schizoid Franken-Neem)? As the teenagers used to say (when we were about to perform some scientific nonsense in the lab), let’s goooooooo.

I walked away from my abusive father when I was in my early 20s… and that gave me about 30 years of peace. While I tried to reconcile with him in my forties, he finally sent me a fuck-you email shortly before he died. Literally. He made it clear that he didn’t regret his actions towards me and cut me loose. To avoid ugly estate issues, he paid me a minor pittance in his will. It’ll pay for half a shed or about a quarter of a carport. He followed through with his multiple threats of disowning me. Good for him.

I wanted to purchase property on northern Vancouver Island and be by the ocean. I sacrificed my dreams of becoming a marine biologist. University rigour was beyond my abilities. I tried to become a fish farmer (hybridising my Yves Veggie Cuisine food production experience with a U.B.C. degree in BSci. Agriculture [fish aquaculture]). TS and I drove around BC, WA, OR, and northern CA meeting operators. I worked at Marine Harvest Canada (Kyuquot Sound Farms) for 1.5 months… and was then fired. I wasn’t able to crack the whip on my operation (a rare reflection from my dad that I agreed with), force ex-fishermen to manage the pens, and fatten the fish up enough to market weight. In desperation, we moved away from Campbell River and went to Toronto. Good for us.

Surprisingly, I was headhunted by a factory in Vaughn, Ontario. Somehow, they found out that I used to work at Yves Veggie Cuisine and courted me. This co-packer had landed a lucrative contract to manufacture, box, and ship YVC’s line of food service products. I was flattered and signed up as a production manager/supervisor. That was not my passion, and I dreaded walking into the facility every morning. I still remember that fateful morning when I was staggering around the back parking lot, and I phoned TS. I lamented that I had wasted years of my life and wanted to go back to volunteering/working/doing-something at the Vancouver Aquarium (in their teaching labs). I had sacrificed sleep by getting up at 4 a.m., lead teenagers in their wet labs, and then bus it across the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) to my day-job in Delta. TS zeroed in on my desire to teach science. She asked me: why don’t you become a high school science teacher? Holy shit. I still remember my reaction… it was like TS had given me a tender hug, and then a swift kick in the complacency. Hard. I gave my 2 week’s notice to a bewildered factory owner. And signed up for a seat at the Ontario Institute of Secondary Education – University of Toronto (OISE/UT). I even got a fantastic reference from the Vancouver Aquarium (Andy Lamb, thank you).

Twenty year later. I took early retirement from the York District School Board. Sure, there were some tough challenges in the board for me. I don’t regret it. And let me be blunt, I was paid well and now have a fantastic pension (thank you for paying your taxes, eh). In my semi-retirement, I sacrificed a NICE pay-cheque and benefits… What did I gain post YRDSB? The hours. I’m still under 55 and have most of my marbles intact. And I have time. Oh, and 10 hectares of rocks, trees, and water up here on the North Bruce Peninsula!