Building Life’s Journey
By Shannon Keenan
My father used to tell me that once you reach 25 years old, life will speed up — and he was right. Life has…slipped by. I can hardly believe I’m at the retirement stage already, and sometimes I ask myself, How did I end up here?
I grew up in a small town, Richmond. Like many young people growing up in small towns, I wanted to move to a big city, so I moved to Montreal for university. I ended up staying there for about twenty years — it became home.
When my husband passed away, everything changed. I had two small children, and I knew I needed family around us. So, I went back to my hometown, and bought a house right beside my parents where my kids could grow up surrounded by some of their cousins and grandparents. I come from a big family — seven kids in total. We looked out for each other, and that support carried me through some difficult times.
Within a year of moving back home, I started working with an organization called Townshippers’ Association. I worked there for 10 years and then moved on when I accepted a new challenge — a community liaison position with MCDC (Making Connections Developing Community), which later developed CASE. I became the executive director. I didn’t know much about the area or the people, so it was definitely a challenge to come here.
I began with one connection — a local seniors’ group in Trois-Rivières called the White Head Group. They were kind and welcoming but cautious. They weren’t sure what, or why we were building a community organization. Still, that’s where it all started — I was the only person building the organization in 2017. Eventually, I created a board and secured funding to grow our network, and what began as a one-person operation became a team of 10, running eleven programs when I left.
Looking back, I hope my real legacy isn’t in the programs or funding we secured — it’s in the connections we build, and the support that can be provided for people when it’s most needed. For English speakers in this region, finding your community can be hard. I think through this organization, some people found each other. They felt seen, supported and less alone. That’s what I think is most important — that sense of belonging we helped create.
The years have gone by quickly. But when I look back, it’s interesting to see how each twist and turn — each move, loss, and leap of faith — can lead you to where you are in life.
