FRIENDS SINCE 1980
On September 10th, 1980 I was matched with Sheila through Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Prince George. It was Sheila’s 12th birthday and I was 19. I had met Sheila about a month earlier when I chaperoned a trip of “Little Sisters” on a 5-day horseback riding trip to Alpine Wilderness Adventures at Tatlayoko Lake. She was a great kid, very quiet and polite, and we seemed to have a good rapport right from the start. I spoke to the caseworker at the PG chapter office about being matched with Sheila, so she followed through with making the arrangements for us to be matched right away.
In the early days of our match, we often spent time at my home, where I was living with my parents at the time. Sometimes we baked, played board games, watched television, or just listened to music and talked. She often stayed overnight as well. We also went to movies, bowling, riding bikes, hiking, horseback riding, or sometimes we just went for drives around town in my car so we could talk and spend time together. I was also working and attending college at that time, but I always made time for her because I felt it was important, and because she was such a joy to be around.
Over the course of the next few years Sheila became part of the family, and often was present at many family events. I watched as she grew up from a young girl in elementary school into a young adult after her high school graduation in 1986. Although our match was officially “closed” by the time she was 16, our friendship continued on. She was a bridesmaid at my wedding, and joined me to celebrate when my first child was born.
After attending college in Prince George, Sheila moved away to attend university in Victoria. We wrote letters, talked on the phone, and took time to visit each other. By this time our relationship had matured into one that resembled two sisters confiding in each other about love, life, relationships, and just about anything that two sisters might typically discuss. I began to realize that Sheila had evolved into a true “sister”, and a devoted friend. Coming from a family of four older brothers it was a welcome change.
Around the time Sheila graduated from University with her BA and a teaching degree, I became a single parent. She talked and encouraged me through many tough times, just as I had done for her in previous years while she was attending school and living far away from home. Her insight into the life of a child from a divorced family was invaluable to me in raising my two daughters. It was at that point I realized our relationship had come full circle, and Sheila had become my mentor.
On the day of my 40th birthday party in 2001 her fiancé proposed, and they were married in 2002. My two teenage daughters came with me to their wedding, and four years later, their daughter was born. Now my daughters are in their 20’s, living and working out in the world as adults, and the cycle of life continues.
Sheila has become an incredible woman. She has integrity, poise, and grace. She has a refreshing sense of humour, she is successful in her career, she is a loving wife and mother, and she has the amazing ability to maintain balance in her life. These are traits that I have always admired in her. Looking back to the day that we first met, I knew we would have a lifelong connection, but I had no idea that I would be the one to learn so much. Being matched with Sheila as her Big Sister has become an unexpected blessing.
Heather Hilland, Prince George, BC
