Imagine being three-years-old and watching your father walk-out your front door with a suitcase and a one-way ticket to who knows where. As he steps outside, you shout for him to come back as your younger brother cries. Your mother sits in shock as she observes the unfolding scene and wonders how she will ever make ends meet with two young boys now left fatherless.

More than 90 years after his father’s departure from a rented home on a quiet street in an unassuming corner of Kitsilano, these vibrant images remain seared in the memory of Gerry, a resident of Tapestry at Arbutus Walk.

While most people would look back at this painful memory and point to it as a reason for why life has been so hard, Gerry’s perspective has been shaped by a conscious decision to view adversity as a challenge, to keep a positive disposition, and to view life with a pragmatic, but unwavering optimism.

“I have had an unbelievably wonderful life,” says Gerry, who recently celebrated his 94^th birthday at Tapestry surrounded by his loving family and friends. “When I look back, I don’t dwell on the negative things that were detrimental in my life. I focus on where I was able to overcome and establish a positive outlook for where I was going.”

As soon as he was able, Gerry assumed the mantle of “man of the house” and quickly set about finding ways to earn money to help support his family. He delivered newspapers along two routes, as well as prescriptions for a local pharmacy.

Gerry is beyond grateful to the Kitsilano “village” that gave him the opportunity to help support his mother and find comfort in the arms of a community that opened its heart to his family. The Kitsilano Presbyterian Church nurtured faith and resilience in his tender soul. The local public library became a sanctuary where he was taught to read and cultivate a life-long interest in learning.

“All my life I took on hard problems and endeavoured to solve them,” says Gerry. “When I look back now, I can see how I set a path to be followed. I had some pretty darn big problems, but somebody had to do it and I am grateful to the people who helped me along the way.”

One of those formative supporters in Gerry’s life was Walter Gage, who served as President of the University of British Columbia. As Gerry was a young student struggling to complete his education while balancing the need to earn a living, Dean Gage took him aside and encouraged him to complete his university studies.

Gerry remembers Dean Gage taking him to a window in his office and asking him to look out at all the students that were so busy bustling about campus. “Take a look,” said Dean Gage to Gerry. “Those are university students and they’re all studying. You belong here – with them!”

Knowing that Gerry was struggling with the cost of university, Dean Gage instructed him to return if he ever needed financial assistance. It was a generous offer reflective of Dean Gage’s kind heart and the desire to help those seeking higher education without the means.

While he never took up Dean Gage’s offer, he agreed that university was his path forward, and as fate would have it, higher education led to the achievement of a degree and a perfectly calculated meeting with Meredith, the beautiful young co-ed that would become his wife of 70 years. It was an immediate attraction that hit Gerry like a bolt of lightning.

“It was just something over which I had no control,” says Gerry, referring to the spell Meredith cast on this unassuming young man. “Something just said, go…go now…this is your future life calling. You better get there before it’s too late!”

Meredith was not only the love of Gerry’s life, but also a supportive partner as he climbed the corporate ladder. Gerry had a high-flying career as a senior executive that started with entry-level roles as an office boy and payroll master at Shell Oil. His career took flight at CP Air, where he assumed progressively senior positions, including chief labour negotiator.

Gerry was recognized as a “young, dynamic management employee” in a 1980s CP Air publication that described his forward-thinking recommendation in the late 1960s to build a “Customer Service” department. Under his thoughtful leadership, the newly-formed department would be responsible for all passenger services at Canadian and overseas CP Air offices and initiate a bold new ‘Customer Service Era’ focused on maintaining excellent service standards across airline functions.

Gerry believes his career success was due to the respectful relationships he nurtured, the strong sense of integrity that guided his leadership thinking and his innate ability to solve tough problems – a lens from which he had viewed the world since the tender age of three. Gerry’s perennial optimistic perspective became all the more important after the love of his life, Meredith, passed away after suffering two severe strokes. Meredith’s passing was a terrible shock to Gerry and his two beloved daughters, who supported each other as their precious mother slipped away. Gerry is thankful that in living at Tapestry he was surrounded by a community of caring friends.

As one ages and copes with loss that inevitably comes, Gerry says it would be easy to drift into remorse. But that has never been his style. “Meredith is still with me,” says Gerry. “She always will be. You can’t let the loss destroy your life. You’ve got to look for the things that provide a sense of calm and uplifting and give thanks for the fulfilling life you have been granted.”

Today, Gerry finds a great deal of happiness with his two wonderful daughters of whom he is exceptionally proud. He is grateful for their unending support and assistance. Living at Tapestry, he has many diverse interests and hobbies and enjoys the choice and flexibility to do what he wants – when he wants.  Gerry focuses on walking three kilometers each day and is committed to keeping himself as healthy and well as possible, with the support of Tapestry’s employees and fellow residents. Future plans include writing his biography and sharing his perspective that life – with all of its inevitable difficulties – is wonderful.

“I’ve been very, very lucky,” says the man whose life story began with the slamming of a door and the loss of a parent. “I’m still enjoying life. It’s not about getting old…it’s about being who you are, have been and still enjoy being.”  

***

Gerry is one of our company’s newest resident Ambassadors – volunteer community spokespeople who are pleased to share what they love about their life and living at Tapestry. We are pleased and proud to share Gerry’s inspirational story in print and video. We are inspired by his positive disposition and his unwavering sense of optimism that serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration for everyone around him.