Kim Little always knew that she would raise her children right here in Brockville; even before she had any children to consider, it was just "the plan".
Except for a short stint between grades one and five, when she lived in Kitchener and Pickering with her family, Kim’s school years were spent right here in Brockville. It was upon graduation from TISS that she left home to attend McMaster University and then Bishops University in Quebec. "Even then I knew I would come back to Brockville." And come back she did. Armed with her Bachelor of Arts degree Kim returned to Brockville where she quickly realized her education wasn’t going to help her. This was in 1991, a recession was raging and jobs were scarce. Not without determination, Kim secured a part-time job at a local gift shop and another part-time job as an instructor at St. Lawrence College.
"I was able to put together enough work so that I was doing full-time hours. I did that for a little over a year then moved to Edmonton with my then husband. He attended law school while I worked part-time at the University of Alberta where I also studied for my MBA." During the time Kim spent in Edmonton she recalls really missing Brockville. "I missed the rolling, rocky, lake-riddled terrain of Ontario and the geography of the St. Lawrence River. I once asked someone if there were any lakes around Edmonton for swimming and was told the lakes were either glacier-fed (too cold to swim) or ‘sloughs’." And what exactly is a slough? I had no idea and was given the explanation that it is "a kind of boggy marsh where you certainly didn’t go to swim".
Once her husband had finished law school, the young couple moved to the Toronto area where he was obligated to do his articling while Kim continued her studies at the Rotman School, University of Toronto. It was during this period that daughter, Jessica, was born. "We were like most young couples, not a lot of money, small apartment, but thrilled with this new addition to our family."
"On one of our visits to Brockville we bought a small house downtown. The studying was almost finished and the house would be waiting when the time came to return. With the help of family we would come down pretty much every week-end and work on fixing up the house so that it could be a home and office. It was a comfort knowing that we would have a home to come back to when my studies and his articling were completed."
"When Jessica was just over a year old we drove into Brockville for the last time as visitors. I was so happy to be back. We moved into our house just in time for Christmas with lots of family around. I remember the feeling of driving back knowing I was going home. It felt settled and right."
The only hindrance was they were both temporarily unemployed. "It didn’t matter though. It was so good to be back home in Brockville. This is where my roots were, my parents were here and it didn’t matter. There was a whole future out there. If there were no jobs to be had in Brockville, it wasn’t too far to Kingston and Ottawa." For the first four years back, Kim was self-employed on a contract basis. “I worked for local organizations, for companies in other provinces and even on different continents. With technology today, you can work just about anywhere at just about anything from a home-base of Brockville -- it's fantastic!"
Kim has been living back in Brockville for fourteen years now and there have been changes. The addition of son Zach, born in 1999, and the dissolution of her marriage a few years later. Today, Kim is a supervisor with the Human Services Division of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. She is frequently asked how an MBA landed her a job in the social services field, but insists that she applies her education routinely to the business of people serving people. "It is rewarding, challenging, and requires integrative thinking, something the MBA program fostered," says Kim who has been with the Counties for over 10 years in a variety of roles and programs.
Her personal life is equally gratifying. Kim now shares her life with her "co-pilot" Kyle who also left Brockville at one time, only to return to his roots. Kim, Kyle and the kids live in an older bungalow in the east end of Brockville. Though building new was appealing, Kyle and Kim like the convenience of being in town, the safety and maturity of their neighbourhood, and the proximity to schools. And so, they have been renovating for the past year to update the home. While mostly a DIY project, Kim had good things to say about the access to, and quality of work of the local trades people engaged over the course of the project. "Contractor, plumber, electrician, HVAC–they all showed when they said they would, finished when they said they would, and did a quality job."
Of course, I asked if she had any regrets, there are usually some regrets but all I got from Kim was a resounding, "No."
Is there anything she misses that Brockville doesn’t have that she became used to when living in larger cities? "Well I miss the selection of restaurants. And if I were still living in a larger centre, I'd probably take in the theatre more often. Sometimes I miss having those options."
Her quality of family life is so much more than she could have had living in a larger town. "The time that I don’t spend commuting for work means more time with my kids and Kyle. I believe my children are getting a good education here. It is so easy and rewarding to be involved in their education, and their activities." What about their activities? Do they have the same availability to them as larger towns offer? Kim’s reply, "The kids may have the same amount or even have fewer activities to choose from, but the accessibility is greater. It easy to get them to and from their activities. And when I’m there I know the kids, I know the parents of the kids; there isn’t a bunch of strangers all the time."
"Actually, the reasons why I am here could very well be the same reasons some people don’t want to be here. It’s small, you recognize people, people in service industries get to recognize you. My banker says hello to me on the street. I like the feeling that people here in Brockville really look out for each other."
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