52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2019 Week 2 Prompt - Challenge

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

2019

Week 2

Prompt – Challenge

My ancestors faced many challenges. Their faith propelled them forward from one country to another always searching for more land, more religious freedom, more self governance and in general a better life while at the same time leaving everything and everyone behind. Often these hopes got lost in the hardships of the physical moving, the ungodly traveling conditions and their barren new land. However our ancestors took on these challenges with faith and hard work. They dared to dream of something new and better in a land so far away from home.

I dare say that Bill and I are like our ancestors in this manner. Of course we are not in search of religious freedom or self governance. We are however always up to the challenge of something new. 

Bill and Wendy Hoffart on Wedding Day

Bill and I married on a beautiful sunny spring day in Saskatoon, May 3, 1975. We both were born and raised in Saskatoon. We both moved from our parents' homes to our first rented apartment. It was our first taste of independence and like all young people we loved it. I worked as a full time nurse at Saskatoon City Hospital and Bill completed his final year of Engineering. 

Bill's Engineering Convocation

The following spring right after Bill's convocation in 1976 we moved to Regina where he got his first engineering job with Sask-Tel. We moved away from all the family and friends we grew up with. However unlike our ancestors, our home was only a few hours away and the road between Regina and Saskatoon well traveled. It was very easy to stay connected with family. Our first place in Regina was a 2 bedroom apartment in the south end of the city. I resigned my position as a nurse to make the move. Honestly I was looking forward to a rest. I went from high school to Nursing school to a full time employment. Time off became boring very quickly. At this same time new nursing jobs were almost non existent in Regina. Nothing was available. Keep in mind that at this time, part-time employment was almost unheard of. Thus fewer jobs would be available. I found a nursing course that interested me. I applied and was accepted to a one year course in Operating Room Nurse that would start in September. As the summer dragged on in boredom I came upon a sign outside of my bank in the mall across the street from our apartment for a teller position. I applied. I got the job which started on the same day as my course was to start. There were several bankers in my family so it was not as random as one might think. If one is to look back on life, there are definite times that one sees as forks in the road of their life. I often wonder how my /  our life would have been different if I would have taken the course and remained a nurse.

I want to go back and tell you about my last months as a nurse before moving to Regina. The nurses' union was just a few years old. Rules for working conditions were not as entrenched as they are today. The previous summer I worked every weekend but one. My schedule was 7 to 8 days at a time. Split shifts were my nemesis, working for example 4 nights, 3 days back to back. I worked on a very trying medical ward. The good majority were cancer patients being admitted to the hospital to die. This was long before Palliative Care Units existed. My second last week in Saskatoon City Hospital was quite challenging. I worked 7 shifts and on each of those shifts a patient died and on one I had 3 die within an hour of each other. They were expected deaths. No codes. It was a hell of a way to leave. Thus it might not come as a surprise that I chose to start a job as a teller with no shift work and 5 day work weeks. I loved it. The challenge of not being challenged was what I wanted.

We spent 13 years in Regina. We moved twice more within Regina. We moved to our first mortgaged little home which was Jill's first home.

Our First Regina Home 1977

We moved to a newer larger home in a neighborhood close to schools. This was Jackie first home. Our moves were done with thought to our family's future. The challenges were affording life with two small children and a huge mortgage. 

Our Second Regina House 1980

In spring of 1989 we were once again on the move. Bill was looking for something more in his career and we believed it could be found in Alberta. In September of 1988 I decided to go back to nursing and because of the length away I would need to take a refresher course. I enrolled in a one year course. It was a self study course and when the move was imminent, I worked hard to get it done and I completed it two days before our moving truck arrived to move us to Edmonton. 

Our Edmonton Home 1989

 Our new home was beautiful. It was in a good neighborhood with lots of kids and close schools. Bill worked with the Alberta Research Center. I once again was a nurse. Funny thing about Edmonton is that I remember very little because I worked a permanent part time night shift nursing job. I feel like I spent my life struggling to get to sleep or to wake up to be in sync with the real world.

In 1996, Bill's job was relocated to Airdrie just outside of Calgary. We always wanted to live in Calgary. The logistics were complicated. Bill started work in February of that year. We decided that I would stay behind in Edmonton with the girls to allow them to finish their school years. Thinking that it would be easier for Jackie to start new in High School in Calgary. Jill stayed behind to take her university at U of A.  Further we chose to build our dream home so it would be some time before it would be ready to move in. We packed up our house in August of that year. We had to live with Bill's sister and family for 3 weeks while our home was completed. Our home was beyond our expectations. It was our first brand new home and the choices were all ours.  

Our Brand New Calgary Home 1996

 Once again I resigned from my nursing position in Edmonton. It was at a time when nursing was being downsized so to speak. Positions were being eliminated and because of the union everyone was reassigned to positions based on seniority. In the last few years of nursing at Grey Nun's Hospital I was downsized out of my nursing position several times. I went from a medical ward to Orthopedics to Pediatrics to Emergency and finally Neonatal Intensive Care which by far was my favorite ward.

When I arrived in Calgary a very familiar story emerged. No one was hiring nurses due to government funding cuts. Oh well it gave me some time to settle into our new home. Eventually I found a job at northwest Calgary walk-in clinic. And a few years later it lead to a position at a very busy 7 doctor office where I finished my nursing career early in 2004. At the same time Bill and I were empty nesters for a few years. We rattled around in our huge home using the same few rooms. It seemed pointless and wasteful. Being ahead of the curve of the time we decided to downsize to a smaller condo. In 2005 we did the unthinkable and what at times seemed un-doable and moved to a Calgary downtown high rise condo apartment of only thousand or so square feet. It worked and we loved it. I know many relatives thought we were crazy but despite its challenges, it never felt so good to get rid of all that excess in our life. It was really freeing. 

Downsized to Calgary High Rise Condo 2005

In 2006 I made the decision to leave nursing once again but wanted to work. I applied to the flu clinics as a clerk. It freed me of the challenges of nursing and provided an easy way out of boredom. I worked part time in immunization clinics for the rest of my work career.

Bill's medical scare in 2015 became a catalyst to one more move. Life is too short and thus we retired at 60-ish and decided to move to Kelowna. We found a lovely condo slightly bigger than our high rise condo in Calgary. Kelowna is a beautiful city. The weather is great. The scenery unprecedented. I never felt hemmed in by the mountains but rather cradled lovingly. The lakes are so beautiful. The milder winters were lovely. The orchards were a constant source of awe for me with their spring time blossoms to the fall aroma of apple harvest.

Kelowna Condo 2015

Life is certainly not challenging in Kelowna.

However... sometimes their is a lure that is inexplicable. This past Christmas while in Calgary Bill and I made a decision to move back to Calgary!  Calgary feels like home. I love Kelowna and look forward to visiting it often in the future.But to be honest, Kelowna never felt like home to us. We didn't golf. We didn't swim or enjoy the great lake outdoors. Bill hated the extreme heat. We befriended very few people.

So despite the lack of challenges we are once again on the move - our 9^th move in our married life. We tried Kelowna and we loved it, but the fine weather and beautiful scenery isn't enough to  keep us here.

My next biggest challenge will be to keep blogging while we try to get our condo ready for sale and look for a new home in Calgary and move. But I will try.

Wendy