First thing the next morning I called BEY KNUTSON-SHAW in Vulcan. I had hoped to visit Bev and her brand new 2-week-old baby on my way back to Camrose but I was running behind schedule so we decided to talk on the phone instead.

Bev has been the coordinator of the Write Break Adult Literacy Program in Vulcan since the spring of 1988. She took on the job right after the birth of her second baby and has just given birth to her third. When I asked how she was coping with having a new baby she laughed and said she's gotten quite used to taking babies with her when she works. Bev described the first few months of her literacy work 3 years ago. "I really wanted this job," she said, "but I was nursing my baby and I didn't want to stop. So the people who hired me decided that I could work the month of June, take the summer off then come back in September working from my home if I needed to."

"During that first month there was a Regional workshop down in Lethbridge (about an hour and a half from Vulcan) so I called Margot Pollard and asked, 'Can I bring my baby?' She kindly said yes so I came storming into this meeting room, late, lost, with my baby, blankets, bottles and briefcase all tucked under my arm. I was a wreck but everyone was really helpful."

The first time I met Bev was at a conference in Calgary. Her husband stayed in the hotel with their two young children while Bev attended the meetings (slipping out whenever the baby needed to be fed). The whole Knutson-Shaw family enjoyed a swim at the hotel pool at the end of the day and I remember thinking how unrecognized the spouses and family members are who look after our children when we are away from home at meetings and conferences.

Bev and I talked about being literacy workers and moms and she said, "Sometimes having a family interferes with the work I want to do. There's always a feeling of guilt when I want to go to a meeting or do some extra work. But I'm lucky because we farm so my husband is always at home with the kids - except of course during seeding and harvest. It's a lot more difficult then."

"I have to admit that I get tired sometimes with trying to manage the kids, the farm, our greenhouse business, tutoring and my job which is 15 hours a week. Sometimes the students just can't keep going because their lives are so complicated and I know what that's like. When they don't stick with it I wonder if I'm the only one who doesn't see a lot of growth in their programs. Then I talk to one of the other literacy coordinators in our region and find that they get discouraged too. So it's hard sometimes but I'm still learning a lot and I still really like the work."

As we hung up the phone I was sorry that I wouldn't be able to see Bev's new baby (who had been cooing at Bev's shoulder all through our telephone conversation). I said goodbye to Kathy and the mountains and started on my journey back home with a quick stop in Claresholm, 150 km Northeast of Pincher Creek to visit with MARNIE SCHAETTI.

Marnie, the coordinator of Project Read, is a bright and intelligent woman who always manages to bring a new and thoughtful perspective to whatever subject is being discussed. Over the 4 years we've known each other I have especially enjoyed my conversations with Marnie about literacy.

I told her about my visits with Margot, Val, Pat and Kathy and she smiled and said, "You know, I only see the other coordinators in this region maybe two or three times a year and yet every time I do it's like seeing my best friends. They're all fascinating and we really care about each other; it's marvellous."