The story of my daughter’s life is a gift to readers in hopes that others can pay it forward. Cara is remembered, not because of her achievements, but because of the extraordinary challenges she faced.
My wish is to encourage financial support of all agencies who help young people escape the clutches of addiction or exploitation. I invite you to help make a change by opening your hearts.
In grateful anticipation,
Kathy King
January 2018
The Medicine Wheel, symbol of peaceful interaction and connection among all living beings on Earth, lends itself to limitless interpretations and teachings.
In Medicine Wheel tradition, time and space are circular, Sacred and Life are one.
All power comes from Creator at the center of the unbroken circle. As days and seasons mark changes of time, there is an endless connection to past, present and future.
Four directions reach to embrace all people of Mother Earth, supported and integrated by healing energy. Dimensions of body, mind, heart, and spirit balance the journey of creation and the seasons of life.
Kathy grew up on a farm ten miles from Small Town, Alberta, a third generation homesteader and the oldest of five children. She remembers early days without electricity and water, attended a small one-room school for her first six years of formal education, was thrilled to be bussed to Town School for subsequent grades, and couldn’t wait to move to a Big City.
Escape came with studying philosophy (BA) at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and training as a clinical social worker (BSW, MSW) in Calgary, Alberta. She co-authored a text book on Child Sexual Abuse way back in 1987 with her thesis adviser Christopher Bagley.
Objectives include:
I would like to thank the following people for inspiration along the way:
Extended family who provided books to read when I was young, practical supports, clothes to wear, and alternative experiences to life on the farm,
The few people who offered “congratulations” or “well done” in what seemed a sea of criticism and alienation,
The Sisters who provided a second home of sorts through my first years of University,
My daughter Cara who provided me with a reason to settle down and build a responsible life, who allowed me to experience the world again through the eyes of innocence, and who opened my heart to incredible depths of love.
