Chapter 22: Reflections It has been an interesting experience putting these recollections together. Some things are easily remembered, but others have required more thought and prompts from my persistent editor. It makes you more aware of how much things have changed over one lifetime. For example, the instantaneous access to information we have today about current events—local, national, and international—means that no one needs to be unaware of what is happening in the world, unless they choose to shut themselves off completely from technology. If my parents had not immigrated, I would not have had the opportunities that became available from living in Alberta, particularly because of the oil boom. If the oil boom had not happened, Alberta would still be a backwater with dusty gravel roads. Life would have been much simpler, and we would not be producing as much garbage and carbon. I am happy that I was able to pass on a higher standard of living to my sons than what I experienced in my childhood during the Depression, and that they did not have to consider the threat of invasion during the early part of World War II
