In the middle of my submissions in court, the fire alarms went off. Yes, my eloquence actually brought down the house! Well, okay, there was no fire, but we all had to wait outside. The Courthouse is right across the street from the A&W, at the tip of the road that leads to the base. So I stand there in the warm sun, and reflect one how I got there. Twelve (twelve!) years ago, I arrived at Cold Lake for the first time, with no idea where it was, geographically. It didn't occur to me to look it up before leaving for camp and staying there for six weeks. I was 16, we were picked up at Trenton and flown directly to base; it never occurred to me to worry. If you had told me then that I would be a criminal defence lawyer right down the road there 12 years later... I don't know what I would have thought.
The place has an emotional pull on me that really nothing else does. Secretly I think all my life I have just wanted to be the best SLC staff I can be. That work ethic is remarkably transferable. I am grown up, but I will never forget where I have been.
