Claudia Carlsen:  

Once I graduated from Sal Comp, I lived in various cities: Edmonton - 1979 to Oct 1980 Kitchener-Waterloo - Oct 1980 to Sept 1987 Niagara Falls - 1987 to 1988 St. Catharines - 1988 to 1992 Rome, Italy - 1992 to 1995 Toronto - 1993 to 1994 (5 months) St. Catharines - 1995 to 2006 Banff, Alberta - 2006 Canmore, Alberta - 2006 to 2009 Oh yes, I had a blast. It makes me dizzy. Life doesn't always turn out the way you expect. My biggest surprise is that I never married or had children. I just didn't see it coming. There is one thing that would surprise everyone and that is, in Rome I trained as a novice to become a Passionist Sister of St. Paul of the Cross. But I didn't say my vows, Because I was ill. I met with the Pope and shortly thereafter, returned to Canada - no one knew what was the matter with me - and a few months later I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The next few years were spent dealing with that, while I worked at Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre in Niagara Falls (for six years until 2004). After this I tried various jobs, but never found a decent job again. So I packed up all my kit and kaboodle in August 2006 and drove 4,000 kms from Ontario back to Alberta to see if maybe things were better here. And they were when it came to better paying jobs. However, my new life in the Rockies had, guess, a rocky start in that I couldn't find my own place to live in right away and rent was stupid high, even for just a bedroom/shared bathroom. So all my worldly goods were put in mini storage, so I could return the U-Haul. My car was packed to the rafters with essentials for day to day living. My...Expand for more