Category Archives: Personal

2013 The Year My World Changed

Health, Life and Times, Northumberland Hills, Personal, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

2013 started out with good planning for my daughter’s University, comfortable in my job and secure financially, no committed man in my life but hey who needs one right I had a comfortable part time relationship with a good reliable friend.  We hung out together when it was convenient for us both without any strings.  So it was all good until March.

First, my daughter’s step dad decided that his child support was going to cease in April once she turned 18 and he was NOT going to contribute any funds towards her university even though he has been the only father this child has known and our agreement stated that he would support her as long as she was in school.  He was not even man enough to tell this to my face.  I had to email him several times to get him to finally tell me his plans, which gave me no time to plan for the shortfall.

I have drawn up the papers for court and have been assured that if I were to purse I would win the support for my daughter, but at the same time that I was chasing to get answers from him I was advised that my lung cancer had returned and this time because both lungs were affected surgery was not an option as it had been in 2011.  In other words I was terminal.  The cells were too small to biopsy so a wait and see approach was taken.   I was also to be laid off my job due to a down size.  So, I needed to focus my energy into survival mode.

By end June financially I lost three quarters of my net income per month with my credit cards maxed to get my daughter to university, pay for my car loan, insurance, credit card debt and by September food and housing.  Then at September found out I had a stage 4 cell in my neck which was why I could not stand for any length of time causing horrific pain.  Immediate radiation was required. At which point finding work was impossible.  So, my Employment Insurance status had to change from being able to work which I would have maintained until April, 2014 to only 15 weeks on sick benefits, which means at end December, 2013, I had no guaranteed income.

So, where do I go next because the reality after working for nearly 35 years is that I could be in a month without any income and potentially homeless.  There is something wrong with this picture.   I was forced out of a job in the 1990’s by corporate layoffs and restructure and unable to secure permanent employment because of age and the change in the way corporations hired, only contract positions were available.  Leaving me and many other early boomers open to future financial insecurity, no corporate RSP’s contributions or health benefits and such salary reductions making it difficult to take out personal contributions or benefit plans. As a boomer, I and many others were literally living from pay cheque to pay cheque to survive.  So to meet with a serious health crisis and unable to work you have no recourse but turn to the government and social programs for help.

Well let me tell you the difficulties with that.  First there are the applications both federally and provincially.  When you are ill it is very hard to get out and have the energy to pick up and complete these multi-page forms.  In the case of the Canada Pension Disability Plan the wait could be up to four months.  The Ontario Disability Support Plan will not even allow an application until unemployment insurance is exhausted and by then you could potentially have zero income waiting a decision and all this to receive less than $1,065 a month.  How people are supposed to live on that is beyond me.  I can’t even add Old Age Pension because I’m not 65.  Not a fitting end after 35 years of working.  So people will say but you should have paid into a pension plan and put money aside.  I say to them try doing that as a single parent and keep in mind that the cost of separation takes its toll and unless you jump into another relationship you never fully recover.  Fortunately, my daughter is building her life at university and becoming independent, so a little less stress for me.  Although, as a mother the debt she is incurring without any financial help to purse her studies is worrisome.

So for me my reality is that I’m a new empty nester about to potentially lose my car, my life insurance and I need to look for cheaper housing.  This situation not of my own making now makes me one of the country’s poor.  A first for me but somehow I will survive this set back as I have survived so many other adversities in the past.

First I have to kick some cancer butt and fight to live.

 

Campeau Corporation

Life and Times, Personal, , , , , , , , , ,

Just a quick note to let you all know that as I am undergoing chemotherapy at the moment there are times that I get  Chemo brain a common term used by cancer survivors to describe thinking and memory problems that can occur during and after cancer treatment. Chemo brain can also be called chemo fog, chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment or cognitive dysfunction (as described by the Mayo Clinic) .  So if my writing seems slightly off over the next few months we will blame it on the chemo brain.  

scotia plazaBefore leaving Edmonton I knew that I would need to upgrade my skill set especially when it came to computers so I enrolled in a computer basic course at the Alberta Institute of Micro Computing.  This is where I picked up all my word-processing, excel and basic programming skills.  It was a great program and I excelled completing the program with a 98%.  That little diploma was probably one of the best choices I ever made in terms of my career path.  Once back in Toronto I was able to sign up with the Valerie Gilmore one of Toronto’s up and coming employment agencies.  I started out working temporary assignments and because I was a quick study with all things computer and looked and dressed professionally I was in high demand.  After a few months I finally landed a temporary assignment with Campeau Corporation and Rolly Villemare, Vice President, Accounting who later became my friend and mentor.

Campeau was relocating the head office from Ottawa to Toronto (360 Bay Street) and Rolly was responsible for making that happen.  I reported to him as his Administrative Assistant and we worked so well together he decided that he would like to have me work for him full-time.  In order to do this I was required o take a test on the new AS400 word processing system.  Knowing that I did not have the knowledge of this particular system I went to their HR department asked for the manual and crammed that night in preparation of the test in the morning.  I will admit I was not totally confident that I would be able to pull it off but I did and was hired that afternoon and flew to Ottawa to work with Rolly moving the office to Toronto.  This was such an exciting time in my life and career wise I was on the fast track with my mentor Rolly directing my every move.  I was moving in circles I only dreamed of making lots of money and wining and dining with the high rollers of Toronto’s high society.  There were lots of formal parties with top executives, drinking lunches and after work heavy socializing with staff members.  It was a period of excess in everything.  I had a pair of shoes to go with every outfit in my closet and there were many.  Spending $500 on a pair of shoes or clothes was nothing.  I had beautiful business suits one for every day of the week.  With Rollly’s support I moved from Administrative Assistant to Manager in Office Services and then HR Manager with an Administrative Assistant named Claire who mothered me more than my own mother and I loved her for it.  I was a black business manager on Bay Street one of the first.

During this period one of my main responsibilities was the build out of the 57 and 58th floor of Scotia Plaza with a two million dollar budget.  One memorable moment was taking a ride up the construction elevator to the 58th floor for a meeting when there was no glass, just open air and sky between the concrete slabs.  The view of Toronto was amazing.  During this meeting someone dropped a piece of metal piping at the other end of the floor and you could feel the slab floor vibrate.  This was not a good moment in my life the height, the openness, and the vibrating floor just about unhinged me and sent me into panic.  Fortunately, the meeting was concluding and I was able to escape back down 58 floors in a cage on the outside of the building.  Needless to say I turned down any further meetings up there until the floors were enclosed.  When the building was complete it was a beautiful copper red structure that graced the Toronto skyline and still does today.  The two floors 57 and 58 which I managed to influence and organize the build out and furnishings were absolutely beautiful.  My office was on the 57th floor facing east all dark wood and glass with a great view of the lake.

As I mentioned before this was a time of excess and the staff partied together, worked together and it was a time prior to setting work policies covering things like smoking in the office, interoffice relationships, or sexual harassment.  Those issues and polices came in play just before Campeau Corporation started its decline and ultimate downfall.   Just before the decline  I met my third husband.  He was a computer IT employee and I was immediately attracted to his genius and computer skills and his shy and unique personality.   I still remember all the very creative emails I would open in the mornings and then go into panic mode because I could not get them of my screen.  We dated and partied fell in love and had a terrific wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii and then had a beautiful daughter together.  I will go into more detail about this marriage another day.  But, my Campeau days would not have been complete without mentioning the love, romance and marriage that took place during that time.

With the downfall of the Campeau Corporation it meant the termination of most staff and I was asked in a very private meeting of the board if my loyalties were with the corporation or with Mr. Campeau.  Rolly was Mr. Campeau’s  right hand man and by association my loyalty was in question.   At the time I thought it was in my best interest and critical to my financial survival to convince them I was a company woman and that I needed the job.  Throughout the years I’ve questioned that decision.  Thinking that maybe had I said Mr. Campeau I might be living in Europe financially secure right now.  But, I didn’t and therefore in the end helped layoff most everyone and then finally myself.

Campeau Corporation was the highlight of my working life and gave me confidence and pride.  Working on Bay Street during that period was a very big accomplishment for a young black woman and will forever put a big smile on my face when I remember the fun and personal success of that time.