Glenda Leigh

The youngest of three daughters and turning 45 poses a challenge for this busy lady. Somehow I feel that there is a reluctance for my daughter to age. The other two already passed this milestone without much ceremony or concern. Glenda is different because she has too much to do and not enough time to meet her demands of living in a stressful world.

Glenda was a beautiful baby and child. Energy was her middle name as she faced the world as she would a candy store. So many choices and not time for everything. She was little miss homemaker always helping with the dishes (she broke many) and things around the house. At school Glenda did well and participated in sports and excelled. Playing third base at little league in a (then) boys-only game gave her a challenge. She and a friend Jennifer broke the barrier and were the first girls to play for a organized boys team in our town.

All through high school she gained confidence through her participation in school life. As a parent you could only be proud of her as I was of all my children. Glenda had a great start in life.

Now Glenda faces a different set of challenges. A mother of three, two in university and one in grade eight makes for plenty of life decisions. She keeps busy in her spare time to be the supervisor of student services workers for the school board and if that is not enough she works at a children's hospital on weekends as a support staff worker counselling needy patients.

A runner and athlete, even at her age keeps her fit and keeping up to her son and his busy life is a challenge. Now Glenda will turn 45 and as family members we will benefit from her knowledge about behaviour and education in general. We will have to give her that attention she commands because she has arrived and is part of that group called young middle age.

We will gather as we always do and celebrate this birthday with happiness and remember the times in her life that she made us laugh, proud and most of all happy that she is our daughter, our sister and our friend.