June 18, 2019. Edna was working in the neighbouring bay to where Xian was while I was having my oil changed in Strathmore, Alberta. I could tell from the way she dealt with her customer that she was a straight-shooter and had a finesse handling the details involved in her job. She agreed to participate in my project in between office phone calls and her customers. In all of the frenzy, Edna was wonderfully thoughtful.
Are you in love?
“Yes. With my husband. (She laughs) We’ve been together twenty-five years, yeah, still not married but we’re together.”
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
“Oh, a few people, actually. Obviously my husband, he’s there for all the big stuff with me, he keeps me calm, keeps me grounded. I’ve got my friend Ange, who just means the world to me, she keeps me, again, grounded–keeps me who I am, puts me in my spot when I need it. Uhm, my mother and father-in law. They’ve always been there. They’re the ones who showed me what family should be, and for that I am very grateful.”
How do you feel about the future?
“Nervous. Very nervous because it’s, uh…no guarantees, right?
You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know what’s going on. There’s all these changes with government, there’s changes, just with the economy, everything, it’s, it’s…everything’s escalating so fast, and I think it needs to just go back a little ‘old school.’ Slow down a bit. Bring out recorders instead of phones. Hand-write. You know it’s amazing how many kids don’t know how to write cursive nowadays. They, you know like just small things in the long run will be big things. Like reading a clock. You know? They can’t read the clock with the hands. They have to read the digital ones. It’s very scary.
So, yes, I’m nervous for the future.”