One of the good memories I have is of being on the crosscountry track team. We used to travel everywhere to track meets at other schools. I liked travelling from school to school and hated facing the reality of the boarding school. Well, I made it to the provincials and came in third. I felt really proud of myself when they announced at my school that I had won the Female Athlete of the year award.

We all finally left the school when I was thirteen and moved here to Saskatoon. I had my first child when I was sixteen but still managed to go to school with the help of my mother. I believed back then, and I still believe that education is the way to your own selfreliance. By the time I was pregnant with my second child, Brendon, I was just finishing Radius and getting my diploma for my GED. My baby son, Shaun, was born 2 years later and that was when I believed that my two little ones needed a mom, full time. I knew how it was to be so young and not have a mother there to hug and kiss. My two boys are now in grades two and six, so I believed it was time to let them grow without mom always coddling them. I had not been to school for ten years, so I decided it was time to show my sons and myself that I could do it.

Tina Delorme