I’m Pat Boone (the good-looking one in the middle).
This picture is one of my favorite pictures of me and my family taken a few years ago.
We had a lot of good times and we had our share of challenges, too.
Both boys are grown up and have moved out of the house now. My wife and I worked extremely hard to lay the foundation that has kept our family together. We’ve persevered over 24 years and will continue to do so, God willing.
A New Family
My wife and I married in October, 1997.
We both had dreams and aspirations, but we were both a product of our upbringing. I had a role (or so I thought), she had a role (or so she thought) and we carried our roles out to the best of our abilities.
I worked in IT consulting and she was a photo-retoucher.
After a couple years of marriage, our first son arrived…and then 19 months later our second son arrived.
We like to work quickly.
I soon discovered that fatherhood came naturally to me. I was passionate about raising my sons, and wanted them to grow up to be strong, faith-filled, contributors to society. My vision, which I formed early on, was “boys that were relevant to the world. but not dependent on the world”.
I can honestly say that I’ve achieved that vision, although not without a few tears along the way.
The Turbulent Years
Shortly after the boys arrived, I started feeling anxious about my career.
Although I enjoyed the work, I felt like I was being held back and that I had more to offer.
I wanted to start my own business.
I talked my wife into starting a photo-printing business, which happened to be a natural extension to her existing retouching business
Our new printing business took off quickly, mainly because of her talent, and the market was desperately seeking a client-focused service which they currently weren’t receiving. With very little marketing effort (mostly word of mouth), our business grew quickly…almost too quickly, we had a hard time keeping up at times.
However, about three years in to the venture, digital photograph quality improved to the point where professional photographers were moving to digital cameras and sharing files digitally, so our photo-printing business slowly died.
I went back to consulting work, and then eventually landed a leadership role with our provincial government.
Although I gained a ton of great leadership experience and worked with some great people, I soon became restless once again and wanted challenges that day-to-day government couldn’t provide. I moved around in government a few times – never quite finding my niche.
During my time in government, my wife and I experienced a real low in our marriage.
We almost divorced.
We had communication issues, and really different personalities.
We didn’t understand how those areas impacted our relationship. Add to that the growing pressure of providing for the family, being unhappy at work, and not even close to feeling in control of my life, I cracked…
If it wasn’t for a coach I talked with, I may be writing a very different story at this point.
Dad called these years “the turbulent years”.
Our Spiritual Life Saved Us
Sometimes, you don’t know how compatible you are until you go through some pain.
My wife’s market gardening business (Little Eden Veggies) was born out of our painful experience and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
I serve as the maintenance / construction guy – with encouragement and business know-how mixed in to support her.
Hey, her business gave me an excuse to buy a tractor and what guy doesn’t dream of playing on a tractor once in his life?
Our careers, relationship, and family time has been rocky.
Events happened that forced us to change, other changes came about by our own choices.
Looking back, we can see how our paths have led us to where we are now – but it’s not easy to see when you’re in the middle of it.
Running our own businesses has been scary, exhilarating, difficult, and rewarding.
We’ve had our faith to fall back on in times of great challenge. Christ has seen us through – and continues to do so – I’m a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due.
Now, my wife and I both operate our own businesses and our sons are following in our footsteps. We have a grandson…and a new granddaughter on the way!
I love connecting with others in a way that enables them to share their thoughts, dreams, and experiences. If you are struggling in a rut at work, in your business, spiritual, or personal life I hope you find help, or even a little comfort, here!