It’s Non of Your Business, But if You Really Want to Know…

Well alright then, let’s do this. I was born in Red Deer, but grew up in Edmonton. I was a good student, but didn’t particularly like school. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life after high school, like most. So, I became a bartender. My parents were thrilled! The first bar I worked at was Cowboys. My outfit consisted of skin tight jeans, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, and a very low cut crop top. My father frequently asked if I got it half price seeing as it was only half a top… It never got old.

I soon realized my looks and body wouldn’t last long (especially with my fondness for bacon and vodka), so I should probably look into some sort of career. I really envied others around me who seemed to know with great confidence what they wanted to do. I liked so many things that I found it impossible to choose one thing to commit to. So I took one of those sessions where they ask you a million questions and then tell you what you’d be best suited to. I recall that psychologist, social worker, and teacher were at the top of the list. I ended up enrolling in a BA program with a major in psychology. I loved psychology and sociology and anthropology and felt like this was definitely a good path. I was going to be a psychologist!

It was in my first year of uni that I met this guy in the cafeteria. I have a stunningly poor memory. It’s really shocking. So I’m sure he’d correct me on many details, but I will tell it the way I choose to recall it. It’s my blog. I believe he approached me with a few friends and started chatting me up. He may have asked me out, or maybe just invited me along to something they were all doing. Dammit! I really haven’t got much here. I often wonder if undergoing hypnosis would help bring back many lost memories. I guess I should have been a shrink and then I would know that. Anyway, we ended up dating. I was completely smitten. He liked me for a few months and then broke up with me. I may have been devastated. Over the next few years our paths would cross once in a while (I knew where to find him – not like a stalker – but you know). I hoped we would get back together but he seemed to enjoy being single, which annoyed me.

In my last year of uni I found out I’d have to move to Ponoka as part of the program. Cue screeching brakes sound. Despite knowing nothing of Ponoka, aside from the fact that it was a small place, I immediately knew I would die if I had to leave Edmonton and go to a small town, and that was it. Why didn’t anyone tell me what a moron I was? After jumping ship on the shrink train, I decided to pursue an after degree in education.

So I became a teacher… and when I graduated there were no jobs in Edmonton. Awesome. Calgary was recruiting, but I decided that if I was going to move, it was going to be worthwhile. In other words, I wanted hot weather and beaches. One of my profs at uni was from Australia. He was my favorite, passionate about special education, and had completed his PhD at Monash. I had often thought about traveling to Australia, and perhaps I could apply to a university and complete a masters. My wheels were turning, but I was also slightly terrified of setting out on my own. Up until then I had only ever traveled overseas with family or friends for short holidays and had never had to plan any of it myself.

Then came the turning point. A friend unexpectedly passed away. He was someone that I had spoken to about my possible move/travel to Australia on many occasions and he was in full support. His attitude toward life was basically the Nike slogan, Just Do It. He had an inexplicable amount of energy. Positive energy. And then he was gone.

That was it. Decision made. Life was short and I needed to get some balls.

I packed a bag and headed to Australia. I landed in Melbourne in 2007 at about 3am and headed to a hostel that wasn’t yet open for check in. I ended up living at Urban Central for three months. The first night I met a bartender who worked in the attached lounge. She was also from Edmonton, and we instantly got on. She had been traveling for a while and was working to save up some more money. We ended up rooming together and working together at The Point restaurant in Albert Park. After leaving Melbourne we traveled all the way up the coast until we hit Cairns. From there I went on to New Zealand and Thailand. I arrived back home the next year overly tanned and wanting to burn almost everything in my backpack. I knew I would be heading back to Australia as soon as I could figure out a plan. A legal plan.

Many tourists work under the table in Australia, but I have never been able to get away with anything and have the worst poker face imaginable, so I wasn’t even going to attempt that. I ended up getting a one year tourist visa and figured I’d work on a plan once I arrived. This time I landed in Sydney. I figured I’d spend a bit of time here and then see if I could land a position teaching in the outback.

But then I met a guy. A really great guy. I had long given up on relationships and had been single for the last few years. I was not the type to change my plans for a guy, but this one seemed worth it.  We were together for many years and he was absolutely the perfect person for me at that time. I did end up going back to uni, completed two masters programs, and worked as a special education teacher. I also became an Australian citizen.

Then I came home.

It was a hard decision and an easy decision. I had ended a relationship with someone I really loved. An absolutely wonderful person. I knew in my heart that it had to end, but it was terrible to do. I had been living alone for the last year, and I felt very alone. After being overseas for so long I had established wonderful friendships, and Bronte was truly home, but I also missed my family and friends back in Edmonton. I missed every birthday, holiday celebration, wedding, and funeral of those that I loved. I found funerals the hardest. While I would have been overjoyed to be there to celebrate the good times with loved ones, it was crushing to not be able to say goodbye.

I returned to Edmonton in 2015. It was a bit of a struggle. I was very happy to be home and be surrounded by my friends and family, but felt homesick at the same time. I read a quote in that time that really resonated.

Where is here? Check the blog to see where we’re at.

Thanks for joining us!

Stacey & Andre