Denise Lemire:
CLASS OF 1975
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate InstituteClass of 1975
Toronto, ON
St. Ursula Catholic SchoolClass of 1970
Toronto, ON
Saint Maria Goretti Catholic SchoolClass of 1970
Toronto, ON
Denise's Story
I think adding to the top of this section is probably the best way, instead of having to read my "epistle" each and every time.
September 12-11
Long time - no write!!
Looks like it is almost 2 and a half years since I wrote on Classmates site. Yes, lots has happened. Top story: I am a grandmother....can you believe it? It was quite a surprise at the time. A wonderful event and a new branch on our family tree....little Mackenzie Jaden was born in June of 2010. She is THE most precious little girl since my own baby girl (and my son) who are now respectively 22 and soon to be 21.
I have had the supreme pleasure of being close to Kenzie...as Neil and I volunteered to babysit our little grandie every chance we have had. She runs into my arms and fits perfectly.
As a result, my weeks, have turned into months and now it looks like years. Is this a sign of getting old...prrrrobably. Hey..having recently turned 55 (yikes...doesn't that look ugly when written)....but that is a fact that even I can't get past...lol. My L'Oreal shade and I keep the years at bay!!!
Neil and I got cast in a play recently and are working diligently with learning our lines for the production in October. It has been a while since I have been on stage...5 years to be exact. What a riot eh? Anyhow, our rehearsals are coming at us fast and furiously.
So, life has stepped on the accelerator and I am speeding forward. Nice to write a little bit about what has been going on. Things are going by in a blur...that's ok....I am looking straight ahead as I am hoping my next move will be an uplifting experience...9 years in the making...some things come to those who wait......patience is a virtue......all in good time, my dear, all in good time....what other saying can I use to express a miracle coming true. Enough said.
Will write again...well until this membership runs out...I have decided to stop my membership. I have come on here once in the last couple of years...it seems facebook has got my complete attention...and of course, yahoo messenger.....xo
April 16-09 -
Michael Enters My Life - 1974
This part of my story is about a long-haired teenager who entered my life back when I too was a teenager, a couple of years older that he. I had just returning from my first solo trip to and from the U.K.
Exhausted, I got out of my dad's car and stepped back on my driveway in the summer of 1974. There standing before me was a young man who asked me where my little sister might be.
How would I know? I thought. I just got back. He and I started to chat. He was not shy and decided to stick around and introduced himself. Michael Treadway was his name and he had just moved in up the street. Unbeknownst to me, we would form a lifelong friendship that is still strong through the years to this very day. He and his siblings were new faces to the gang of kids on our street, a group of which I was a part.
There were close to 20 kids that lived and played on the court. And here was an addition of 5 new faces hailing from the United States. I was always interested in knowing about people's backgrounds and here he was, a young man who was different. he wasn't shy to unabashedly walk beside me. I guess I didn't appreciate that till many many years later, I looked, in retrospect, on how much and what our friendship meant to me.
During the remainder of that summer, Michael would come over to my house and sit and talk to me as well as my parents. They always like my Michael. We would watch television together on many an afternoon after school - we watched the Mike Douglas Show and the Donny and Marie Show and other shows that I really loved. I would be watching Donny; Michael would be watching me. He stayed with me and kept me company. A time otherwise spent alone.
The following school year, very often, he would wait for me in the hallway near my locker and we would walk home from school. He would stay till it was supper time and then walk up our street, heading home.
Alas, we grew up and he and his family moved away. First within the same neighbourhood, different address and then eventually out of Toronto. We kept in touch through those years.
In 1978, I attended his wedding and watched Michael, dressed in a white tuxedo, no less, wait at the head of the church and marry a young lady in Cornwall. It was a tad difficult - call it protective, call it possessive but I watched him enjoy a happy day in his life. Despite locking the keys in the car, he shone that day. The reason I remember this is cuz I did casually state on the eve of his nuptials that I would always remember this time, it was the same year that Donny Osmond also got married. Geeez..to be a teenager again (silly at times).I think I would do a lot of things differently but not change the way our friendship went. It had a unique nature that has kept it all enduring. Many people enjoy friendships but find that they eventually, due to circumstances, drift apart over time. Not this friendship.
I got married many years later to Wayne and we had Chantelle and Brandon. Mike had had a son from that first marriage and then had 2 more boys after he married for the 2nd time.
A couple of decades and a course of events, Michael and I met up again. The year was 2001. I knew that year had to mean more than just that plain old 'Space Odyssey'. It was the year that Michael and I reunited. Albeit a difficult time for me and my family personally, Michael and his family drove up from Louisiana and stayed with us in July.
Maybe fate had it that way because it was also THE most difficult time in my life and I think that it happened the way it did for a reason. I had my family and Michael with me when I faced the harsh tragedy. It was definitely fate that guided us through that traumatic time.
During that visit, he and I had had some pretty interesting talks when he was here and he divulged some info about when we were younger that I was not aware of. Hmmm. I see.
But they left and life carried on. He was here for the Laurier reunion last year and we spent a few days together. It was nice to have him with me again...this time he returned solo.
Right now he is facing some medical issues that need to be handled one by one and he will be fine, just fine after all of this is behind him. He has his family, his determination, his inner strength, his faith and he has ME.xo
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Thought I'd write a blurb about how Neil and I met. He is my boyfriend who has been "associated" with me for, oh let's see now....16 years. Wow...that's a huge lot of grey hairs ago!!
I had had my two children within a couple of years and being mum was a daunting task for most. I was home full-time because it was a choice I was given by my husband/now ex. I needed to get out, find a hobby from the day-to-day and my little "monkeys".
We had received a flyer in the mail which invited members of the community to come on out and join the local theatre. Well, I mentioned it to Wayne and he encouraged me to go and try it out. I joined to merely be on a committee but certainly NOT to be asked to get up on stage. NOOOO WAAAAY....That was me then. I was used to being Wayne's 2nd banana or watch from the sidelines as he was our jokester. I was quite content with that so joining the theatre group meant I was going to be a member...and nothing else.
Being on the committee, I was involved with choosing plays, organizing the behind-the-scenes...Expand for more
jobs that usually get done without a lot of hoopla. Perfect I thought.
After about a year, I had grown tired of the in-fighting amongst the committee members and felt...hey if I want to see disgreements, I can stay home and referee my own kids...but my kids were little...these were grown adults. I left....enough already.
In 1996, one of the committee members pulled up by my car, at my kids' school and asked if I'd be interested in a role in the upcoming play as Neil needed one more actor and felt I might be ideal. hmm..oh oh...that was not the deal...BUT I was no longer part of the theatre.
Wayne, once again, encouraged me to at least try it, see what it required and decide from there, but at least try...you never know.
That was when I officially met Neil. (I had seen him in one of the productions while I was on the committee but was kinda shy to introduce myself at the time. That was in 1992). He was now the director of next production, "Murder Is A Game". I played Cora Leech. (great name eh). My kids always remembered the name by renaming me "Cora Sticker". ohhhh kayy.
At the start, Neil painstakingly went through that script, page by page, patiently suggesting ways to handle each line and we also went through blocking during rehearsals.
And soon, I found myself drawn to this wonderful man.
Many, many, many productions and roles later, including several awards and rave reviews, he and I have remained together. A bit of a chess game with families but we found we were happiest when we were together. So now..in 2008, we have made a home and a life together. I don't think it was such a bad idea to join the theatre after all.
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There now...much better....
I just thought of something that was once told to me.....and it may not surprise some but here it is.....I was told that during my high school years that I was most likely to become a nun. WHAAAT. I didn't think I gave that much of a "cloistered" impression...did I?? Oh well...I had to laugh when my friend, Greg had mentioned that fact to me during one of the times we would get together over the years. But I did eventually get married around the age of 30. I had Chantelle in '89 and Brandon in '90.....they are now 19 and almost 18...gosh i can't believe how time has flown.
Left school, a shy introvert......after some theatre work, I changed my attitude and outlook. Now, more outgoing and approachable as my dear friend has found out lately.
Some eye opening revelations recently have made me appreciate the way we were and how much we have changed, grown and evolved.
The recent high school reunion has been a real turning point for my life as I see it now. Thanks, T....you know who you are....I know who you are and what I missed by being so shy before...but...not...anymore!!
I always wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. My family and friends thought that was a great idea. As it turns out, they were right....i didn't become a teacher by profession but became a mum, a role model and took on the greatest job for my children.
The wildest thing I ever did....keeping in mind that I never did anything wild.....I skipped Mr. Leonard's chemistry class and hung in the library...That was as "wild" as I got.....ohhh what a renegade!!
If I'm going to work somewhere, I need to have windows with the sun streaming in, good looking, mature men to be my scenery, and a clear view to be able to deal with the day-to-day.
My mother was my hero. She lived her life being my inspiration....if i can be a fraction of who and what she represented...i would be happy.
I started out in Calcutta, India where I lived till I was 9...we moved to Canada, where I spent many years in Toronto...West Hill actually. Attended St. Maria Goretti, St. Ursula and then Sir Wilfrid Laurier C.I. A few years later, I moved to Pickering where my boyfriend/husband/now ex lived. He got transferred to Dunnville (don't ask...no one really cares.....we didn't live there...Wayne worked there...we lived in Caledonia...that is where I am still now....marooned. My kids are in college now..Chantelle is going to start her 2nd year.....Brandon is entering his first. I am thinking perhaps a change of locale might be in order. Although, my job is keeping me here. I love it in Brantford....so many interesting things happening there too. hmm...it's all good.
Funny this question should be posed....A month ago, I had a great fortune of meeting up with a friend of mine from high school. We were too shy to talk back then...but we have made up for it now....we have talked a couple of evenings away as the hours have melted around us. We plan to keep on meeting and realizing the years between then and now are going to seem insignificant cuz we are friends now.
Terry...so glad you and I have made the time.
Sports? I enjoy watching a good hockey game.....and love NASCAR. I hope to make it to the Brickyard real soon. I developed a fondness since a dear friend of mine introduced me to it a few years ago.
Biggest surprise is i never knew i would enjoy being a mum as much as I do....well it came naturally cuz my kids are the best in the world. Hey...the next question just seems to follow.....what have i learned from my kids....that we all grow up together and become each others' best friend.
mmm...my teacher? Eye candy category: Mr.Speichert...he was gorgeous...hey..no harm in just looking, is there??
Great teacher: Miss Kolowitz, Mr.Arbor, Mr.Rock.
Hey I really like these questions.....i would like my old friends to remember me as being sincere and caring and understanding. Perfect combination to become a bartender. I have this burning desire to be a bartender and talk to people about what bothers them and try to solve the world's issues and also make the best bloody caesar this side of the Colisseum.
My passion is theatre....on stage, under the hot lights, getting into a character....I love it. Emoting my lines and feeling a gut-wrenching emotion to top it off. I did that when I was part of a Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts' production of "Shirley Valentine". It was fabulous. In one part, I actually brokedown (couldn't help it..the piece was so powerful) and felt the emotion come pouring out in tears. What a great feeling. The director loved it too. The part when Shirley feels free and can enjoy the company of a man who brings out the best of her. My wish.....
I would love to share the stage with Donny Osmond...yes...you read correctly....Donny Osmond. You do all know that I was supposed to be Mrs. Donny Osmond, right? I attended his 50th birthday party in Las Vegas last year.
I enjoy dance....I have most recently taken several sessions of bellydance, done jazz and swing. Different forms of dance have just brought out another side of me....to enjoy....feels freeing and that's my goal. I work too hard not to make time for myself.
My weaknesses...hmmm...let's see now....a killer pair of shoes. Hey size 5's are hard to come by...but you wouldn't know it from the 100 pairs I have in my closet. So what? This addiction won't kill me...just make me look waaaay taller. aaaahaaa.
Another weakness....crossing the border whenever I get the chance. I looove it there...anytime of day...but love those night time "flights" along the QEW at 140, all I need is wings...windows down....wind through my hair....damn that feels good.
One more for good measure...a littttle chocolate now and again. That way the guilt is not all-consuming.
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