Belonging, at Home

By Diane Gelinas

OH!!!! Those nostalgic moments. HOW I MISS OTTAWA. IT’S MULTIPLE MUSEUMS, it's breathtakingly COLOUR-FILLED tulip FESTIVAL, and ALL-SUMMER outdoor art exhibitors throughout the city parks, along with sometimes weekend or weeklong summer FESTIVALS. In the winter skating on the canal was a TREAT.

I was born in the heart of Quebec where most of my family still lives, then went to lovely Ottawa University to pursue a degree in Business Administration. Fell in love with this just big enough, bilingual, multicultural and governmental city. Ottawa became my city of adoption for the next 50 years, where I worked for the federal government. Then, at 65, when the world was in COVID mode, I came back to live in Trois-Rivières. Back to my origins — la MAURICIE.

Coming to a French-speaking area is difficult for me, since I was speaking mainly English in Ottawa. I find myself translating from English to French all the time — talk about MENTAL GYMNASTICS!!!

In addition, this being a much smaller centre, it is difficult to find a great variety of items which were readily available in Ottawa. There, I was fifteen minutes away from everything. Here, since my transportation is my bicycle, and more activities are 30 minutes or more away I am more dependent on the weather. Let me add HILLS, LONG STEEP HILLS, no matter which way I go.

I am so happy to be a member of CASE where English is the language of choice. YEAH!!!