DEBBIE & STEVE
Debbie and Steve crossed paths as students while living in co-op housing in Kingston, Ontario in 1978. “We met socially,” says Debbie, “and started dating soon after.”
She then moved to Toronto to work as a Child & Youth School Counsellor after graduating in 1979. They commuted until Steve finished his engineering studies a year later.
When they were married in 1982, living in Toronto, they had no plans to move out west 28 years later, but they did just that when they retired in their mid-50s.
They first visited BC when Steve, a fibre optics engineer, was attending a course in his hobby of making fine furniture, on the Sunshine Coast.
“We liked it out here, with the possibility of a milder winter,” they say. “And our son was living in Kamloops.”
“We just knew,” adds Debbie, after checking out numerous potential locations on Vancouver Island, “that Saltair was the perfect place for us to build our retirement home,” which they did in 2010.
To get to know their neighbours, the couple opened their home by hosting music house parties through Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous, a cross-Canada not-for-profit arts organization that coordinates Canadian home concerts for musicians.
“We saw it as a community service,” says Debbie. “Hosting the musicians for the night at our house was a bonus.”
Once socializing resumed post-pandemic, Debbie and Steve decided to pursue their other hobby, contra dancing.
“It’s very inclusive,” says Debbie, “and good exercise for both the brain and body. We line dance and square dance with a caller and a live band.”
The couple drives to Victoria a few weekends a month to dance with Victoria Contra Dances, a volunteer-run organization.
Ironically it was Steve, initially reluctant to participate, that ended up being the better dancer, according to Debbie. “The repetitiveness of the dance is good exercise for the brain,” she adds. “Dancers’ memories improve over time.”
Steve says he also gets to use his engineering skills to support the sound technician.
Both Debbie and Steve, now in their mid-60s, strongly believe in giving their retired time to volunteer with organizations that support their passions and give energy back to a community network.
“It’s good for all of us,” they agree.
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