Discover Sixty-Five: October 2022

Karma
Halleran
Publisher
Recently I had the
pleasure of meeting
Bruce and
Wendy Lacroix.
Bruce had just
emailed me with an
idea for a column in the Discover Sixty-Five.
It was an interesting idea that
I had not heard explored previously. I
thought you, our readers, would like it.
Bruce said he would drop by to discuss
his idea, and he also brought along his
partner. After a bit of chatter I learned
his wife’s name is spelt Lacroix - and
the penny dropped. Wendy has been
submitting articles since February. She
writes about all the aspects of setting
“Your Retirement Path” from maintaining
a healthy relationship with your
partner - now that you have so much
time together - to how to downsize
your home as you prepare for a simpler
life. I enjoyed meeting them and
thought you would too.
D65: Wendy, are you a Kootenay Girl?
Wendy: No, I was born in Ottawa,
Ontario, the youngest daughter of
two daughters. I lived there until
I was 19. I then went to college in
North Bay, studying Environmental
Sciences and Lab Technology.
D65: Do you have children?
Embracing Time and Opportunity ~ Karma Halleran
Wendy: Yes we do, two girls – Melanie,
32, works for West Kootenay
Rural Teacher Education Program in
Nelson. She is also a certified Nutrition
and Fitness coach, and coaches
part time. Her husband is a teacher at
Mt. Sentinel. Our other daughter, Angela,
has her own business. She studied
the Digital Media course at Selkirk
College, and now works for Nelson
Becker on the ExpressNews, along
with other freelance design projects,
for the city and other businesses. She
loves working from home.
D65: You have been writing articles
for Discovery Sixty-Five for months
now, about being prepared for retirement.
Your business name is
‘Your Retirement Path’ and you raise
questions (and answer them) about
such things as Planning for retirement,
Living with someone 24/7 -
which may not have been the case
when you were both working, How
to meet other’s expectations of your
retirement, and more. You often run
workshops to explore these questions
more deeply. Have you done
this work your whole life?
Wendy: No. I have had a number of
different careers; lab tech in the environment
field, ski instructor, daycare
owner, restaurant manager at Fairmont
Hot Springs, Bruce and I had a
training school in Nelson called Kootenay
Career Directions Inc., which
we ran for 5 years. The focus was to
help income assistance and EI candidates
acquire the skills necessary
to be successful in the workforce.
We mixed in a number of life skills as
well. I taught career and employment
skills, plus tourism courses, Bruce
focused on entrepreneurship, and
our partner Becky taught computer
skills. After the school closed down I
returned to school to get my TESOL,
to teach English, and
went to China for four
months to teach English
and customer service
skills. When I came back
from China in 2008, I was
then offered a position at
KCDS as an Employment
Counsellor. I worked
there as a job coach with
the Wage Subsidy Program
for 17 years. I went
back to school again (I
love learning) and trained as a counsellor.
When that course finished I
looked around Nelson and realized
there were already a large number
of traditional counsellors available,
so decided to specialize in preparing
for retirement. As much as I help
others, it has made me acknowledge
the coming challenges of retirement
as well. My workshops have an outline,
that is fluid, allowing movement
in the direction the class determines.
We become a group working together
to learn new skills and to prepare
ourselves for retirement. I receive as
much as I give to my attendees, for
which I am grateful.
D65: What have you discovered in
this process?:
Wendy: We enjoy life to the fullest.
We want to stay fit right into our senior
years. That is why we bike, swim,
ski, kayak and Bruce plays pickleball
as well. I cannot imagine coming to a
full stop, by choice.
Which leads us to the other half of
this team.
My office on the Beach in Cuba ~ Bruce
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October 2022 Discover Sixty-Five email: seniors@pennywiseads.com