Even though I have a degree in social work, my heart has always been in education. Not long after marrying my husband, I resigned from professional work to raise a large family. We left Ontario with our first two little ones and made Edmonton our new home. I loved the immense blue skies. When it rained half the day, the sun would always declare its brilliance for the other part of the day.

Southern Ontario was a great place to grow up. We lived in the country where there was lots of entertainment to be had from catching grasshoppers in jars to feeding stray cats, and jumping off bales of hay in my girlfriend’s barn. When I wasn’t outside making tents with my neighbourhood friends, biking, or playing in the woods down in the ravine, you could easily locate me in my bedroom devouring books including an array of novels that my Oma (grandmother) sent me regularly from Germany. My father once nailed me for neglecting to heed my mother by reducing my weekly diet of literature down to only seven books!

Some of my children now have their own families. And some of them are young adults finding their niche in life. The most creative and richest part of my life was teaching them at home. I was fascinated by their fascinations. One of them decided to grow corn from popcorn. I was pretty dubious about the outcome but after months of just throwing pails of water on the plants (with no fertilizer thank you very much!), ears of corn burst from the folds. The popcorn made from the harvest was the best I’d ever tasted!

New seasons create new anticipations. My experiences teaching, studying and researching education in all kinds of interesting corners over the last 30 years has precipitated a new venture with the next generation of children.

Gabriele Schroeder