Allison has four children—a three year old, a two year old and one year
old twins.
(Allison is married to Ryan.)
Education was emphasized in Allison’s household when she was growing
up and “college was very much encouraged—all the kids in my family
went to college.”
Her mother and father both started university but did
not finish. Her mother left school when she was one month away from graduation
and her father quit when he was drafted for Vietnam. Allison’s parents
modeled reading frequently. Allison “read a lot and was read to a lot.”
She said, “My mom is an avid reader. She read novels to us every night,
one hour per night for sure.”
Her mother also read the Bible, magazines,
newspapers and National Geographic every day. Her father read the newspaper
daily and enjoyed reading magazines. Allison’s parents did their taxes
together for one week a year and “I saw dad always doing bills.”
Allison “saw mom always making organizational lists, stamp collecting,
cooking with cookbooks.”
Allison’s family was quite musical. Her father “sang a lot and
four out of seven nights we sang grace at dinner”
. Her parents would sing
and follow in the hymnal once a week at church. She took piano lessons for five
years and “used books with notes and words printed out.”
Allison’s
mother “did intense journaling and she’s written several types of
documents. I saw her writing every day in it.”
Her father did some storytelling
although he read from books more often. Allison’s mother helped her with
homework, “She did it with me or just if I needed help.”
The family
would go to museums, art galleries and TELUS World of Science twice a year.