Our Members Never Cease to Inspire and Amaze Me
Jodi Joy
Director of Development and Communications
Our members never cease to inspire and amaze me. I always feel so blessed when chatting with our members about how nature has shaped their lives, the joys they have experience spending time outdoors in nature and why they feel it’s so important to support Nature Canada’s work.
Some common threads I’ve heard time and again: whether growing up on the farm and nature was all around them and therefore is part of who they are and why they appreciate and respect it. Or they lived in the city but their parents took them hand-in-hand to teach them about nature and then they did the same to pass their nature ethic onto their kids or grandkids too!
You might enjoy these stories shared recently:
I grew up in a small village and looking back it is astounding the freedom we had as children – fields, woods, streams – nature was our constant companion. And what a privilege and joy to have lived in that place and time. Keep up the good work! Janet, ON, Member for 40 years
Pink Lady’s Slipper
My earliest memory is my Mother taking me across the fields to Lady Slippers in bloom. No picking. We could just sit and look at them and talk about them and it made us happy. Norma, SK, Member since 1998
I grew up on the edge of a Forest with a Father who knew the names of wildflowers. At the beginning of WWII, I was not evacuated so I spent time walking my dog and learning the names of trees and shrubs too. I had a brilliant Biology teacher who loved botany and took us on field trips. I have never stopped loving nature! Joan, ON, Member since 2000
My love of nature was inspired by my mother – still have the bird feeder hanging in our backyard filled with bird seed and love to hear singing of songbirds – which reminds me of her. Mary, ON, Member since 2005
Ever since I was a kid, I have LOVED the outdoors and spent all my life hiking in the wilderness. I married in my 40s and taught my husband how wonderful hiking is and together we have walked many miles. And even though I am 80 and arthritis stops my walking now, what incredible memories my husband and I share together! Joyce, ON, Member since 2000
And I spoke with Margaret Taylor this week to thank her for kind support and heard:
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Since a tiny toddler in a small stroller, her mother and father took her to the woods and taught her to “love all nature, the flowers, the birds, just everything in those woods”. When she grew up, she married a man who loved nature as much as she did – camping out in Temagami Forest for their honeymoon. Margaret told me she’s been so fortunate to live by nature all her life – all 101 years of it, residing near the Niagara escarpment and the Dundas marsh.
She laughed as she said: “It’s just part of me! I just love God’s beautiful world. And I am grateful that I can still enjoy the garden and all the wildlife that abounds. And I’m very thankful that groups like Nature Canada are working to protect something so important to me and others.”
At this special time of the year, we want to say Thank You to all our members who care so dearly about nature and trust in our efforts to save wilderness and defend wildlife.
