Many have heard of foundlings, infants unable to fend for themselves and left in the hopes someone will be able to care and love them. Many years ago, there were often not enough homes for the sheer number of them. Humanity looks to babies and the parenting feelings grows, but those who are older, toddlers or young children, are sadly passed over. Many make their way from place to place, growing up without the security of family, without the knowledge of being loved. Thirty-six years ago, I was blessed. I became one of the chosen, taken in by a family who loved me and wanted me. Their decision was difficult, the choice so vast, yet from them all, the ash blond little girl who grasped their finger and smiled up at them won their hearts.
I grew up in Outremont, a suburb of Montreal, along with my sisters Anne and Francine. At the age of 5, we moved to the first in what would become a string of houses as my father was transferred from place to place for his work. Being painfully shy, each move was difficult, always meeting new people, trying to fit in. Fortunately, my father instilled in us all a very independent streak which helped me eventually overcome the shyness and learn to enjoy each new situation. Educated in French schools, we moved to the States at the end of elementary school and I found myself exposed to the teenage world of High School in Vermont and New Hampshire. It was there, amongst other things, that I first started reading Fantasy. For as long as I'd been reading, I'd been fascinated with tales of the old Greek Gods and Goddesses, Nordic myths, and like all young girls of that time, princesses and dragons. Now I started reading everything I could find from authors like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Raymond Feist, Alan Dean Foster, Stephen R. Donaldson.....the list goes on and on.
Work, dating, then eventually children, none of it ever stopped my voracious appetite for books. Then, I stumbled on an author I'd never read, Robert Jordan, and I began my journey into the Wheel of Time. I was fascinated from the first page, and have been avidly following Rand's travels ever since. Like almost everyone else I know, I've been sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for each new book to come out, theorizing and wondering what will happen to all the characters who've become like old friends.
My three children, Patrick, Christina and Shawna don't share my passion for reading, but each of them have their own talents, their own pastimes and hobbies, and although at times I fervently wish for escape, they are the stars of my universe, the core of my life. Along with our three dogs, Venture, Patch and Jazz, our four cats, CJ, Smokey, Lucky and Rover, and of course, the two mice, Emma and Gerri (yep, daughter #1 is a Spice Girls fan), we all somehow coexist and live happily in our townhouse in Pointe-Claire.
Since coming online in February 98, I've met alot of wonderful people who share the same interests, many of whom have become close friends. Some I have already met in RL and got to know all over again, and the planning of visits to others fills much of my spare time. Phone calls and letters have added a depth to friendships I will treasure forever.
There are so very many people I've been blessed to get to know through the wonder of these etherial paths and walkways. My beloved and dear Oath Mother, Niniara and my dearest oath sisters as well as everyone on the Renunciates list, all have and will forever been a source of support, never ending love and joy. These women surely must represent a bright hope for the future for they all look upon life with the certainty that friendship and the strength of sisterhood can overcome anything.
