Becoming Me
by Betty Lunam

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As a single mother raising five children in the sixties, Betty Lunam is no stranger to struggle. Born in rural Québec in the midst of the Depression, Betty’s first marriage, to a member of the Canadian Air Force, would take her all over the country, following her husband’s postings. But as his behaviour takes increasingly erratic and violent turns, Betty is forced to flee with her children back to Québec, to be near her family, where she starts a new chapter, buying her own house at the height of the FLQ crisis, pursuing a career in nursing, and learning to take on a man’s role as well as a woman’s in the home during a time when single motherhood still had a pretty bad rap. Betty’s extraordinary memoir take us from different towns and villages in the Province of Québec to Vancouver Island and back. This is the story of how, against all odds, a young divorcée was able to start over, time and time again—first, to raise her five children while working as a graduate nurse; later, with an empty nest, to marry the love of her life, bringing her back to the Comox Valley where her family first started and settling into a new and peaceful life as a passionate environmentalist, artist, and naturalist. Initially written for her children, Becoming Me is sure to interest readers beyond the dear friends and family who populate her memories. Candidly narrated—oftentimes with a sense of humour—the challenges Betty has faced over the course of her life will resonate with anyone who has had to start over.

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Betty was born and baptized Marie Elizabeth Nicole Suzanne Jacques in 1936 in Beauceville, Québec. She did her primary and secondary education in French Catholic schools before training as a nurse at the Saint-Georges de Beauce Hospital in Beauce County, Québec. After her marriage, she worked in different hospitals, following her air force husband to his different postings. After her divorce and return to Montréal, she found employment and worked for nearly twenty years at the Catherine Booth, a Salvation Army hospital. While working full time at the Catherine Booth and raising her children, she completed a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in administration at Concordia University, and graduated cum laude in 1982. Her lifelong passion for and participation in visual arts later culminated in her obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 2011. Her environmentalist work in BC with the Comox Valley Naturalists has been far- reaching and impactful, and in 2005, she received an award from Fisheries and Oceans Canada for her work in the Courtenay River. Betty now resides in Victoria, BC. Two of her children, Eric and Suzanne, live nearby

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Contributors

Author

Betty Lunam

Editor

Phyllis Webster