Know who you are voting for: About me

You can check my profile to know the facts but what makes me who I am probably has more to do with my life experiences.
I grew up in the Montreal and Toronto areas. A couple of years after my dad died (I was 13 when he died) we moved to Kamloops. At that time I moved from the hustle and bustle of a big school where I was Student Council President to the small town of Kamloops and the even smaller school of Westsyde Secondary. Other than the incredible geography, I was not impressed with Kamloops. After graduating I worked in Kamloops for a year before attending SFU. I returned to Kamloops and worked at the Kamloops Daily Sentinel for a year before I met Dan, (in town playing at the David Thompson in the band Patriot, not the most illustrious beginnings but our relationship is still solid and thriving after 29 years of marriage).
We moved to the States and made a decided we needed a change in our lives. We decided that we needed more than smoky bars and that God would be at the centre of any decisions we made. We ended up part of a church staff and helped produce a major outdoor passion play in Washington state for several years. When it was again time to redirect our lives we took a summer and travelled through 38 states and 8 provinces before we chose to settle in Kamloops. Kamloops had grown up a bit and so had I, this time I loved it.
We were raised to contribute to our community. We all volunteer but that has also affected our career choices. For example, my sister, Jennifer Gore is manager of the Kamloops SPCA, my uncle, Gordon Gore launched the Big Little Science Centre . My mother, Betty May Gore worked on a church staff for many years. Dan and I were part of church staff teams as well as volunteering for a number of organizations over the years. My children also began volunteering at a very young age. (We'll save that for another post).
Here we launched our business and later became part of a local church staff where we again presented a passion play. This time we wrote, produced and directed it for 15 years along with hundreds of amazing volunteers. It became one of the largest and longest running productions of its kind. It came time to end it (at least for a while) and move on to other things.
During this time we also decided to begin a family and after a while we realized we would build our family through adoption. What amazing experiences we have had. Our first son arrived through a private adoption. It was love at first sight. One moment I was shopping at, then, Overwaitea, then a phone call and the next hour I had my son in my arms! He is an amazing young man who has grown up volunteering all over Kamloops. We travelled to Haiti to adopt Danielle and Marshall as infants. This was during the coup of 1991. We travelled down there with other families believing the paperwork was completed and all we had to do was pick up our children. We arrived to find that crucial signatures still had to be secured and Haiti was in a state of turmoil. Eventually we did get the necessary signatures and flew out on the last plane to Canada for a month. Marshall had pneumonia three times before he was two and Danielle arrived home so sick she was in the hospital the next day. She spent most of her first two year on antibiotics. Now she is a member of the BC figure skating team.
Our youngest two, Tyrine and Monique arrived through the Ministry of Children and Families as special needs children. Their birthmother had a very difficult life that ended early because of a drug overdose. She longed to kick the drugs that held her prisoner but unfortunately she wasn't able to do that before they killed her. The good news is that we have two beautiful girls and close ties with their birth family.
During the past few years we have faced other challenges. On Labour Day weekend, 2005 our home burned down. Not only did we lose almost all of our belongings but our precious pets died in the fire as well. Thankfully none of us were hurt. The people of Kamloops were truly amazing during that time surrounding us with strength and support that helped us go forward. During that same year we faced several health issues, 5 surgeries amongst us, way too many deaths in the family and declining health of family members. It was a difficult time. Thanks to strength from God and through the wonderful people he surrounded us with we came out of that time of our lives stronger and more determined to go forward. Our children have an understanding and strength that amazes me as well. We now have a beautiful home and the very special mantle on our fireplace reminds me of a very important message. It is made of beetle wood, denim wood. In other words, wood made from trees destroyed by pine beetles. It is beautiful. Out of devastation and destruction has come something beautiful.
I want my time and energy to make a difference for someone. My children are getting older and more independent and it was time to resume a career. What did I want to do? That's when I decided I couldn't think of anything I would rather do that serve the people of this awesome city. Yes, give something back. Help to make an already good city even better, so I am running for Kamloops City Council.