Kay Long:  

Life It would seem that a lot of people are curious about the path my life has taken since I graduated from H.R. High in 1955. I was married for 14 years to a very abusive man. The only good part of the marriage was that it gave me two wonderful daughters, Belinda and Cassandra. After the divorce I went back to school so I could support myself and my children. In 1970 I met and married my soul mate, Chuck Long. We decided that we needed a new start away from the chaos created by our respective ex-spouses. We moved to Edmonton, Alberta, stayed there for 10 years and after the girls left home we moved even further north to fulfill our shared dream. We built a large log house a mile from Lesser Slave Lake. I worked for the Alberta Government for 20 years, traveling throughout northern Alberta via trucks and small bush planes. Chuck worked on the house and also worked as a carpenter part-time. In 1989 we moved into what the locals called "Long's Log Mansion" Life was good, lots of challenges but happy. We were starting to build small cabins so we could open a bed and breakfast business in our retirement years. Then, in 1996, Chuck was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma. For the next 9 months we traveled back and forth from home to Edmonton where he was treated with chemotherapy and radiation. He never gave up the fight to live, but the cancer spread and in April, 1997, he died and I crashed. It took me a year to stabilize and realize that I was no longer a part of "we". I had to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I started selling the farm equipment, some of my antique furniture and, eventually, the farm. I moved back to Edmonton and went back to school which resulted in obtaining my Bachelor of Social Work degree when I was 65. I also met Glenn, my partner, during my "school years". I worked as a counselor and group facilitator for a small non-profit organization which counsels women (and a few men) who are in crisis. Last year I decided it was time for me to move closer to family so Glenn and I packed up and moved south, to Lethbridge, where my daughter, Belinda, and her family live. I've retired 3 times (so far) in my life. Once from Government, once from contract work for government and once from counseling. Two months ago I started working for Lethbridge Meals On Wheels in a job-share position. I work 5 days, then have 9 days off while my job-share partner takes over. For years I worked passionately to house people then I worked just as passionately to feed the elderly and infirmed but the meal box packing (50-100 meals a day) became too much for my spine (arthritis) and I had to retire once again. A friend recently told me that I should just take the word "retirement" out of my vocabulary. I think she's right because I have just gone back to work at a job that I love. I am working as the Hepatitis C Program Officer for Lethbridge HIV Connection. Do you know that one out of every twelve people worldwide have Hep C and 70% of them do not know it? Be kind to your liver, folks, you can't live without it and Hep C may destroy it. BIG NEWS!! My book, The Widow's Walk: A Survivor's Handbook, is now in the marketplace and I have 3 book signings scheduled. You can find it at Google, Amazon and AuthorHouse. I hope that it helps those who have lost their spouse; writing it has helped me in the grieving process. I truly believe that Browning knew what he was talking about when he said, "the last of life, for which the first was made." July 1/08 Just to bring everyone up to date - the book is selling and will do even better once I have time to do some marketing. The good thing about "The Little Pink Book" is that there is a new audience daily. Every day someone somewhere loses a spouse or partner so I always have new, potential readers. The stories and advise in the book are timeless. Widows and widowers experience the same feelings no matter when their loss occurs in life. That's one of the reasons I found a younger man (10 years) the next time around. The chances of me becoming a widow for the second time are slim (I hope). I love my new job and have set a goal for myself to inform everyone I have any contact with about Hep C and the consequences thereof. It's strange that people are so frightened and uncomfortable about HIV/AIDS but will open up about Hep C and it can be just as deadly. One can live with the HIV virus with the proper medication for many years, but with Hep C the virus can remain hidden for 20 - 50 years with no symptoms. Often doing so much damage to the liv...Expand for more