Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe

‘MY LIFE ON A PAGE’

I was born in Mary’s Harbor, Labrador, in 1948. My father was a Newfoundland Ranger stationed at Port Hope Simpson, so in a few weeks I took my first boat trip on the ‘Kyle’, one of the coastal boats that serviced the Newfoundland and Labrador coast, home to my father at the Rangers Quarters in Port Hope Simpson. Although my given name is Yvonne, I had a Welsh godmother and I was born the same week as Prince Charles. She said I was a ‘Bonnie Baby’ and my name went from ‘Yvonne to Bonnie’, just like that! I believe she was vastly misled on the ‘Bonnie Baby’ part because I see Baby photos of me and I look like Winston Churchill!!!! However the name Bonnie stuck, and is used to this day.

In what was to be a long list of boat trips and moves we moved to Twillingate,NL, when I was just a year old. After that came Burgeo, Port Saunders, Grand Falls, Clarenville, (where I met my husband the summer he joined the RCMP), and Bell Island. All of Father’s postings were in Newfoundland and Labrador. My father had merged from the Ranger Force into the RCMP with the confederation with Canada. So we, as a family, of course went where his work took him. The family later moved to Labrador City, Goose Bay, and then back to Mount Pearl, but I had left home by then.

I attended many schools obviously, graduating from Grand Falls Academy, Grand Falls, NL. in 1964. However the problem was my age. The Grace Hospital School of Nursing required that you be seventeen years and seven months old to enter training. I was just fifteen. My parents enrolled me in the Commercial course at St. Catherine’s High School in Grand Falls, and after graduating I worked as a stenographer with Harvey Dawe Ltd., a contracting company in Grand Falls, NL, until Fathers’ transfer in 1966 to Clarenville. In October of 1966 I entered training at the School of Nursing, graduating in 1969, and after a short trip to England, went to work in Grand Bank, a small outport community on the South coast of Newfoundland, and gained experience I would not trade for anything. I learned from the older nurses how to be resourceful, how to lead a team, and how to fit well into the role of a Registered Nurse. I am ever grateful for those nurses, many who have long since left us.

In April.1970 I married and moved to Nova Scotia where my husband served in many areas in his role as an officer in the RCMP, Dartmouth, Sydney Mines, Halifax, Lunenburg, Windsor, and then Halifax again. All of my Mountie husband’s postings were in Nova Scotia, an awesomely beautiful province. We lived in Windsor, NS, for the longest time that I have lived anywhere, 23 years. So therefore the major part of my life and career was in the little town of Windsor, Nova Scotia, living in the small village of Falmouth, just a few kilometers away.

We have two children, a son and a daughter. My daughter is in Calgary and my son in Fort McMurray, an electrician with extra training for work in the ‘oil patch’ as they call it. Both of our children are well educated and self- sufficient. I have a delightful little granddaughter, my daughter’s little priceless gem. Her name is ‘Kylee’, Feminine for ‘Kyle’ - the name of the boat that brought me home as an infant. Ironic isn’t it? Not intentional- just truly a coincidence as my daughter did not know the name of the boat that took Mother and I through the ice to Father’s Posting in another small Labrador outport.

The year 2000 brought a big change to our lives when we made the move back to Newfoundland, giving in to the call of the sea, back to where our roots lay, and our families lived. It was not something we had ever planned but it was necessary to do. The call was too strong to ignore.

So, now we are both retired, enjoying our various pursuits, having a little grandchild adds to our lives even though they are far away. Leaving is somewhat easier now than it was then. Technology has made it so. Communication is quicker and having the means to travel is a far cry from the living from paycheck to paycheck of our younger days.

So, that is me. I am 57 years of age now. I love the outdoor lifestyle we live, the boat, the skidoo, the four-wheeler, the berry-picking, the fishing, and still enjoy photography, writing, cooking, my books, music and of course my beautiful cat .I have finally adjusted to being out of the loop of hands on nursing, a difficult adjustment at first but health considerations played a part in my decision to leave while at the top and still actively nursing. Travel is big on the agenda now, as is family.

Story Telling is a passion that has always been with me. I recall a team mate on night duty saying "Bonnie, I am so tired, tell me one of your stories!" That would start a great laugh, and of course, bring forth a story. Writing was never in my mind as an avenue to pursue in the arts, although I know I was good in English Literature in school my friends tell me. I needed to write, just short pieces to accompany photos I would be submitting to different publications. Then, out of the blue, while I was trimming a very old Lilac Tree here on the Lowe family land in Shoal Harbor, NL, I caught the scent of the Lilac and knew I had to write about the experience of how the memories of all those ‘vacation only’ trips to Newfoundland came tumbling from my memory bank. That story was accepted by the Provincial Daily Paper here in Newfoundland and when I saw it, saw my name as the author, I was TOTALLY HOOKED ON WRITING, and have never looked back. I write for many publications, and am active in our community and our province, trying to give back as much as I gave to Nova Scotia for thirty years.

Then I had a friend from Nova Scotia diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs Disease. I wrote her life story, and was approached by ALS Independence Website- (Lou Gehrigs is Amyeotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) hence the ALS. The webmaster asked me if I would be willing to submit a piece of writing to them from time to time, humor and uplifting stories, little anecdotes etc. and I agreed to do it. My friend lost her battle last spring but I still contribute to the Lou Gehrigs people, and the site, http://www.alsindepence.com/The(www.alsindependence.com/THEBONNIEPAGE, because they have an Auto-Reader which enables the severely handicapped person to have the story read to them. I think my friend Bev would be thrilled that I continue to do that. Being a nurse gives me a great understanding of the terrible and debilitating disease, so I remain true to my promise to them. As time went on, I continued to write and then started jotting down ideas to explore when given time. I call it ‘MY ENDLESS LIST’!

So you can see, or deduct from this article that I have yet to find out what RETIREMENT REALLY IS! A friend told me not to RETIRE from the things I love to do, she says "You’d be bored to death!"

‘Do No Harm’, that is the pledge we took in 1969, and I do hope throughout my life that I did no harm, and if I did it certainly was never intentional. I am proud of the fact that in the face of some terrible behavior by people, I never ever said a mean word to a patient. And, being volatile at times, I frankly don’t know how I did that. I think a special force looks over little Newfoundland girls who are pursuing their dreams, and showing they care.

Story ID:	676
Written by:	OurEcho Admin (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	In The Spotlight
Location:	Clarenville Newfoundland and Labrador Canada
Year:	2006
Person:	Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe