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The official kickoff to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, the Calgary Stampede Parade, was held this past Friday. Each year the Stampede brings back so many great memories for me. As a teenager living only 5 blocks from the Stampede grounds my brother and I would head there with our group of friends and spend hours taking in everything that the Stampede had to offer. As an adult raising my kids I would always make sure that we took a day trip down to the grounds and enjoyed the rides, the exhibits, the shows, the animals and, most of all, the junk food.
As an adult, my most memorable part of the Stampede was always the parade and the 4 years that Meagan marched with the Calgary Round-up and Calgary Stetson Show Bands. In my humble opinion, Calgary is the “home of marching band”! We have some amazingly talented marching bands in Calgary; starting with the Stampede Show band, The Calgary Stetson Show Band, The Calgary Round-up Band and The Bishop Grandin Marching Ghosts, just to name a few. On parade day, Dale and I would haul our lawn chairs down to 6th avenue, find the perfect spot, set ourselves up and wait in anticipation for the band to pass by. Upon seeing the band come into view, I would jump out of my seat and start yelling Meagan’s name and waving frantically for her to notice me…. Never failed, she always turned her head towards the sound of my voice and gave me that cute little smirk (you know, the one that said; “hey Mom this is embarrassing”). Oh how I miss that. We followed her to every parade and show performance that the band participated in – usually 9-10 parades & shows a year and I always made sure that she knew that I was there… Sorry Meagan!
Since Meagan does not participate in the Calgary Stampede parade anymore, I don’t attend it on a regular basis, but I watch it on television and as the band passes I look for other mothers who are doing the same thing and, inevitably, I see one or two….. I really miss those days! One of the things that Meagan misses the most about Calgary is the Stampede, she has only had the opportunity to attend once since moving to England 4 years ago.
This year as Craig was heading out the door to go to the Stampede grounds for an evening with his friends, I made him pose for a few pics in the back yard (another embarrassing moment ). I got a couple of good ones and thought I’d post them on the blog…..... Sorry Craig!
Having been raised in a single parent family, my mother gave me the insight and fortitude to get a good education and make a career for myself, a career that could support a family if left to do so on my own.
When that fateful day happened to me just one week before Meagan’s fifth birthday I made a promise to myself that I would raise both of my children to be the best that they could be, to always support one another and “have each other’s backs”; after all it was now going to be just the three of us. From that day forward my entire focus was to make sure Meagan received the best education that I could give her to make the best career choice to be able to support herself . I became obsessed with giving her all the tools she needed to choose the best career path and vowed that somehow, some way I would put her through post secondary education. Fate had a hand in this goal of mine and Dale came into our lives.
Through dedication and a lot of hard work Meagan made her dream possible; in 2006 she graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and headed off to England to work for a year as a Special Needs Assistant at Kennel Lane School in Bracknell. In the Spring of 2007 she applied and was accepted into the Speech &Language Therapy Program at the University of Reading, England; one of 3 international students. I cannot begin to comprehend the time and hard work that Meagan put into these two years and I cannot tell you how proud I am of what she has accomplished. In 2009 she graduated with honorable mention with her Masters degree in Speech & Language Therapy and was immediately offered two positions working with children as an SLT. She chose the one in Harlow and she and Jake found a beautiful flat in Wanstead, London. She is just finishing up her first year of work and has surpassed both her and her employer’s expectations. I know that she is appreciative of all the support, both emotional and financially, that we have given her and I am proud that she is on the right track with her whole amazing life ahead of her. I have accomplished what I set out to do, but I did not do it alone and the only person that deserves the credit for achieving this goal is Meagan. I love you more than words can express. It is now time for you to
“live the life you’ve imagined”
