New Brunswick’s Normand MacDonald accomplished his lengthy record of dream careers by the age of 60.
He joined monastic life first, then labored as a licensed sensible nurse, turned a florist after that, then labored within the funeral enterprise, and most just lately celebrated 15 years as a pastor.
“I’ve mates, who, once they grew up, they needed to be a policeman, fireman or no matter, and that is what they turned,” mentioned MacDonald, who grew up in Moncton however moved to Fredericton later in life.
“I, alternatively, there have been 4 various things that me.”
Whereas it might seem that he has finished all of it, there was nonetheless one other path that piqued his curiosity — the artwork of creating artisanal cheese, one thing he discovered about at a Trappist monastery in Quebec, identified for its manufacturing of Oka cheese.
And someday, whereas having lunch at work, somebody talked about a gaggle in Halifax that fulfils the goals of seniors.
“I had been sick, fairly sick, earlier to that, and I spent a month within the hospital, and my survival was not assured on the time,” mentioned MacDonald. “So while you come out of that, you see life in a different way. So I assumed, ‘Here’s a group that maybe may assist me.'”
MacDonald utilized to We Are Younger, the group that finally helped him, on the age of 71, notice his dream of studying how cheese is made.
“My want was to simply to expertise the whole course of, no matter that was, from starting to finish, they usually made positive that I did,” MacDonald mentioned of his expertise at Les Blancs d’Arcadie, cheesemakers in Caraquet, the place he received to make squeaky cheese, also referred to as cheese curds or poutine cheese.
Cheese curds squeak due to their tightly-woven protein community, which leads to a squeaking noise once they make contact with your enamel. However the squeak solely lasts for a short while after the cheese is made, so MacDonald received to expertise the squeak of a contemporary curd throughout his time on the manufacturing unit.
Katie Mahoney, the co-founder of We Are Younger, mentioned the concept behind the nine-year-old group is to acknowledge seniors and their efforts in society.
“If this era spent a lot time selflessly sacrificing and all the time giving … what number of of them truly prioritize their very own goals and aspirations?” Mahoney mentioned.
“The arduous fact will not be very many. And lots of have lived a protracted life, however have nonetheless held on to goals and needs that they’d nonetheless like to see fulfilled with somewhat assist and help.”
The group grants needs in Atlantic Canada and Ontario. They need to be experience-based, mentioned Mahoney, they usually want to be one thing that would not have the ability to occur with out help.
Mahoney mentioned ageism is a prevalent difficulty, and he or she hopes sharing these tales may also help folks have a look at seniors in a special mild.
“Folks usually neglect that, you already know, if we’re fortunate sufficient to grow old, we are going to turn into 70, 80, 90, and I do not find out about you, however I need to stay in a world the place seniors are valued and supported, not only for this era, however for the generations who’re rising up and can inevitably get there.”
MacDonald’s expertise was one thing he’ll always remember. For simply a short while, he felt like a part of the employees on the cheese manufacturing unit — checking off one other milestone on his record of dream experiences.
“It was a bit overwhelming for me to have achieved, but once more, one thing that I had needed to do,” he mentioned.
“To know that, no, you are not too previous … and there are folks on the market who could make your dream come true.”
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