Lori Lyman-Elynuik:
CLASS OF 1975
Chilliwack High SchoolClass of 1975
Chilliwack, BC
Robertson Elementary SchoolClass of 1975
Chilliwack, BC
Chilliwack Junior High SchoolClass of 1975
Chilliwack, BC
A.D. Rundle SchoolClass of 1973
Chilliwack, BC
McCammon Elementary SchoolClass of 1967
Chilliwack, BC
Lori's Story
Dear Friends and Readers,
This is a belated account to a request for "my story"! I have decided to do it in point form for simplicity.
1957: born in Chilliwack, BC, my father was in the RCMP and my mother was an RN.
1958 - 1964: lived in Vancouver, BC, while father going to med school at UBC. I attended Nursery School at UBC '63-'64, attended my father's medical school graduation, '64. Two sisters born into the family, 1959 (Toni) and 1961 (Anne).
1964-65: Moved to Youngstown, Ohio, where my father did his internship.
1965 - 1973: We lived in Chilliwack, Mom became fulltime stay-at-home mom after we adopted my brother, Michael, 1966.
1973-74: Moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, while my dad was on sabbatical. Made some good friends while in grade 11 there, and am still in touch with them! Fell in love with the islands!
1974-75: Back to Chilliwack, and graduated High School.
1975-77: Attended University of Hawaii at Hilo, majoring in philosophy, minor in sociology, and LOTS of PARTIES! I have been so fortunate to reconnect with friends from these years recently, have lunch with them, and really enjoy meeting them again! It just seems to do wonders for the heart!
1977-79: Transferred to University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. Lots of great memories, concerts, way too many parties, although I loved school, the studies were suffering! By 1979, my family had moved to Redding, California. At the time, it seemed the best thing to do, so I left school and immigrated to the US (California) in 1979.
1979 - 1981: Worked for our family's medical research and development company, attended Shasta College for Emergency Medical Technician diploma to further connections and understanding in the medical field/industry. I travelled across the US a lot during those two years, attending medical shows, demonstrating my dad's inventions.
1981-85: Married first husband, Dale, and travelled much of Oregon, Nevada, and California through his work in drilling, then through a brush clearing business. Our daughter, Melanie, was born in 1983.
1986-87: Sold the brush-clearing business and moved to Dale's hometown, Silver Creek, in upstate NY. Moved back to Redding, CA, early in 1987, working again for the family business, and Dale worked again in the drillling business in Nevada.
1987: My brother, who had just turned 21, was killed in a car accident, my marriage deteriorated into divorce, and late in 1987, my daughter and I moved back to Chilliwack, BC.
1988-89: Went back to sc...Expand for more
hool at the local college here (now is a university) taking prerequisite courses, then moved to Burnaby, BC, to attend Simon Fraser University.
1989-91: Majored in psychology, discovered (ha ha!) that I had a really stupid drinking problem and sobered up; met my current husband, Nick, who lives in the Interior.
1991: My sister, Toni, who was a geologist, was killed in a tragic accident in the Giant Mine, in Yellowknife, NWT. Moved to Logan Lake to be with Nick, who works at the copper mine near here.
1992: Married Nick, blending families, graduated from SFU, and began volunteering at Hospice, and at the Sexual Assault Counselling Centre in Kamloops.
1994: Taught life skills courses at University College of the Cariboo campus in Merritt, now the Thompson Rivers University.
1996: Hired on at the SACC, first through contracts, then as full-time staff.
1999: Began prerequisite courses for M. Ed. in Counselling program at University of Victoria, completing the degree in 2002, working full time as well.
2006 - present: My mom passed away quite suddenly in September '06, right after my job ended Sept. '06. Apart from a wonderful trip to Europe with my father, much of my time is spent attending to family between Alberta, BC, and California, where my father still lives. I have stepped away from the job-market for now, a sort of self-imposed retirement, which may or may not be temporary. In this, I recognize I have been a bit privileged and for which I am entirely grateful.
My family is spread out quite a bit between northern Alberta, BC, and California, and has grown to include 2 sons-in-law, 4 grandchildren, and a niece.
I love the opportunities that belonging to Classmates has provided, reconnecting with friends I've not seen in well over 35 years! I just love this! I had the incredible opportunity of reconnecting with a dear friend from grade 7, and was able to visit with him and his family in England last year; reconnected with old friends from high school and college from the 70's, and was also able to see them in Hawaii, Ottawa, California, and Florida. People experience so much life through the intervening years perhaps becoming more of who they are creating and growing into, but the joy for me is being able to "see" the person I used to know, even if it is just a lttle bit, and valuing their uniqueness, honouring the memories, celebrating their achievements, acknowledging who they are. Because of this, my life truly feels much richer! Life is good!
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