The story starts when I was about 3 or 4. I couldn’tkeep any food down. My parents brought me to the GP and he referred me to a paediatrician. He thought it may have been a dairy intolerance, but scheduled an abdominalultrasound. Getting the results from the ultrasound, the doctor noticedI had horse-shoe kidneys. For some reason he knew that was associated with a syndrome and also asked my mum about my height. The doctordidn’tthinkI was that small, but my mum knew I wassmall for my age. The Doctor ended up testing me for a syndrome called Turner Syndrome. It’s where a female only has 1 X chromosome instead of 2. I can’t have children, am monitored for heart issues and am verypetite. The test came back and said I had the syndrome. From then on my life was doctors, tests and more tests. I remember being about 5 and going to the hospital and seeing about 5 differentspecialists. Geneticist, orthodontist, paediatrician, and endocrinologist. EveryspringIwould see my endocrinologist and get blood taken and have an X-ray of my hand. They took bloodto check my thyroid, hormone levels, amongst other things. I hated getting blood taken. My mum would buy be an ice cream after as a treat. They also used to do an X-ray to check my bone age. My bone age was usually a year and a half younger than my actual age. They checked it to see when my growth plates would close. From age 10-15 I had growth hormone every day in the form of a needle. It was hard. I used to move my leg so I could stop it from happening. I ended up getting .5 every day. I had to get the needle 6 out of the 7 days. By 15 I had worked the amount to .25 a day. 🙃.
School was hard. I needed occupational therapy from grade 2 to grade 10. In grade 2 I saw a therapist about 2-3 times a week. But grade 10 it wasn’tnecessary anymore. Learning was difficult and took me extra time to learn things.
So, I ended up having a virus and was diagnosed with a syndrome because of it.
This is only part of my story. I hope this gives people a window into my childhood.
Starting in Junior Kindergarten, I went to St. Martin Catholic School. Located in Old South, London, Ontario it was a great school. It went from JK to grade 8. I went there for the whole 10 years of elementary education.
JK and SK I had Mrs. Griffith and went for half days. JK was in the morning, and SK was in the afternoon. I met many friends and loved the bus. I got to take the bus home alone from school in JK in the early afternoon. In SK I got to take the bus alone to school. I felt so grown up. My friends included Sarah, Angela and Brittany.
Kindergarten
Grade 1- I had Mrs Manning and remember hating the timed math quizzes. Those sucked.
Grade 2 I had Mrs. Lutchin. That year I celebrated my First Communion. It was a good year and I enjoyed the way the teacher taught.
First Communion. Have way better pictures, just thought this was funny
Grade 3 I had Mrs. Legg. A pretty uneventful year. I remember going to Westmount Mall for a class trip to see bugs. I also seem to remember going to the Pioneer Village. This year I made the gymnastics team, and did intramural volleyball and basketball. From gr 3-8 I was on the gymnastics team.
Grade 4 I had Mrs. Hutcherson and Mrs. Janauskas. I was in a split class that year. Grade 3 and 4 split. Our end of the year trip was to African Lion Safari. That was awesome. Grade 4 I also had my First Penance.
Grade 5 I had Mrs. Grady. That year I was finally on the third floor. I felt like a big kid. At the end of August that year (going into grade 5), we had a boy named Nikolai from Belarus stay with us. It was through the Children of Chernobyl program in the City of London. He was with us for 6 weeks. From late August to mid September he stayed in our home. He joined us at school for 3 weeks and did struggle because of the language barrier. He struggled with us, but we had a few basic phrases translated by a family friend. A lot of sign language was used. He was fascinated by the stars, automatic doors at the grocery store, baths, and bubble baths. Grade 5 was the beginning of being a “big kid”. I was on the third floor finally and really enjoyed intramural basketball and volleyball. Sports were a big part of my childhood. I also remember being pantsed that year. That was embarrassing.
Nikolai, in red. At my school.
Grade 6 I had Mrs. Hammond. Funny thing about this teacher is that she taught both of my siblings and I while we were at the school at different times. She was so kind and patient. I remember learning a lot about the explorers from Europe coming to Canada and the geography of Canada. In grade 6 in the 2000’s you did VIP. This stands for Values, Influences and Peers. Basically being kind to each other and how to be a good citizen.
Grade 7 I had Mrs. Gianotti. I was in a split class this year and had a good group of friends. I was a fun year. Had fun and hung out with friends at recess. Playing cards. We used to play president a lot. From grade 5-8 I used to help in the kindergarten room during lunch hour. It was so much fun to play with the kids.
Grade 8 I had Mr. Laszlo. He was an awesome teacher. Fun and engaging. This was the year I graduated Elementary School. In grade 8 I had my Confirmation. This means you’re an “adult” in the Catholic church. We each had to choose a saint and that would become our “Confirmation name”. I chose Katharine. So “technically” my full name is Olivia Alexandra Katharine. I chose that name because my Grandma always wanted to name one of her girls that. For our end of year trip we went to Kingston and Ottawa. One night in each. The bus ride was long and loud lol. But it was an awesome trip and have awesome memories. One of the most special ones being meeting Jean Chretien and him pinching my cheek. He was super kind to us rambunctious teenagers. I also finally made the Track and Field team this year. Previous years I’d do triathlon because I liked being active and getting out of school ;). I was also in the choir and part of the school play, Fiddler on the Roof
Grade 9!!! This is the year I entered high school. I went to Catholic Central High School, CCH for short, and would spend the next 4 years there. I remember being sooo nervous the first day of school that I excused myself and was almost sick in the washroom. This lasted a week I remember. Grade 9 was pretty uneventful. I took English, computers, math, learning strategies, religion, science, gym and geography. One thing about this year is that the parents voted this year to make it mandatory to wear uniforms. We were the only Catholic school in the whole district, 9 high schools, to not have them. So in grade 11 they came into effect. I seem to remember going to Port Stanley after going to the water treatment place and playing beach football and getting orangade and fries from Mackies. This could have been grade 10 though.
Grade 10. Grade 10 was also pretty uneventful, except I won the English award. This being the person with the highest grade in that grade in that subject. I was so proud. I got to go to the school and walk across the stage and get my award. I still remember it. I had lots of friends and would hangout at the mall on weekends with them. This year I took, Math, food and nutrition, religion, history, science, English, careers/civics and parenting. A neat trip we went on this year was going to the Barracks and seeing the museum there.
Grade 11. Grade 11 was pretty uneventful. In grade 11 we started wearing uniforms. In grade 11 I also met my best friend. Kathryn D. She is the sweetest. I also met Megan in high school. More than likely grade 11 too. In grade 11 I also started to wear a uniform. This year I took religion, gym, living and working with children, math, science, English, and I did a co-op. My co-op was at a drop in center for children and parents. One funny thing about gr 11 gym was that we were supposed to run, but I decided to wait in a laundromat downtown with a friend. Along with that friend we were supposed to work out at the YMCA downtown, but we’d sit in the windowed corner and chat.
Grade 12. Grade 12 was an amazing year. Prom was obviously the highlight.Prom was June 15, 2007 at the London Convention Center. This year I took tourism and travel, religion, math, gym, parenting, English, I had a spare and possibly another course I forgot about (?). This year in gym we went to Blue Mountain to ski for a night and it was awesome. I could write about gr 12 forever, but I won’t go on too much about it. Grade 12 we had an awesome senior prank day and senior skip day. Senior skip day I went to Masonville Mall with a couple friends. That was fun. I still remember getting a Roxie wallet and still have it. Senior prank day was awesome. Kids form my grade blocked the entrance to the parking lot and covered it with sand and set up a volleyball net and a dj station. It was hilarious. They got some kind of spray paint and sprayed “CCH ’07” on the football shed. lol. Graduation was June 27, 2007 and I finally got my Diploma. I just have so many memories of grade 12 and wish I could remember every single one more vividly, but this is helping me to remember.
I did end up going back to school for a semester after gr 12. I did a co-op at CAA in Cherryhill Mall. It was an awesome experience and will never forget it. Mostly because after my co-op I’d walk to my grandmas apartment behind and hang out with her for an hour after and then catch a ride with my parents after to go home.
In
1994 we went to England.
I don’t really remember a lot about the trip, but I do remember breaking my arm
a week before. We went and stayed in Bristol
with my uncle and aunt. We went to London, Wales, and where my mum grew up in Gloucester. I remember visiting
my mums cousins in London
and celebrating her daughters birthday. That was fun. I also remember visiting
my mums school. The kids were all in uniforms and I thought that was so cool.
I remember way more of Florida than I do of England. We went in December 2000, meaning I was 11. We went with my cousins, Brent, Lauren and Candace. Our flight to Florida was at 6am from Toronto so we had to leave our house at 2am to be there on time. I remember not sleeping at all that night and being soooo excited. The Robert Q bus had picked my cousins up and then us. I remember it was so snowy and cold. We finallt arrived and we were off to Orlando. We arrived in Orlando and just had a blast. We went to The Gulf of Mexico, Coco Beach, and orange groves. We also spent a day at Magic Kingdom. That was all I wanted all week. I was so excited to be there. It was magical. I was invited to dance in the parade, I did a dance with Piglet in the Winnie the Pooh store, and was mesmerized by Tinkerbell “flying” from the castle during the fireworks at night. I have a diary of what we did each day, but it would be too much to write. Plus it would be kinda boring.
I’/ve always loved travel and wish to do way more in the future.
I’ve never written a blog before so I figured I’d start with an intro. I was born on July 20,1989 in London, Ontario. My parents are Herb and Clair. My older sister is Catelin and my brother is Charlie. Cate is 4 years older and Charlie is 20 months older. My Mum was born in Dartford, England and moved to Gloucester as a baby. She then moved to Canada at 12 years old. My Dad was born at the same hospital as me to German immigrant parents. Sooo I’m half English and half German. I had a pretty normal childhood until I was 3/4. At that age I was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome. I’m missing an X Chromosome. Also at age 4 I started Junior Kindergarten at St. Martin Catholic School. I enjoyed school. I didn’t always succeed at school, but I tried my best. I went to St. Martin until grade 8. At age 14, grade 9, I started at Catholic Central High School. I enjoyed high school very much and made many friends. These friends included: Kathryn, Megan, Spencer, Katie, and a few others that were in our “lunch bunch” group. After graduating in 2007, I went back to high school for an extra semester. I then worked for the second half of my “gap year”. During that gap year I applied to 5 Colleges in Ontario. I got into 4 out of the 5. I was accepted into my top school, being Fanshawe College, because it was local. I took the Travel and Tourism program. So in September 2008 I started the Tourism program. I loved being in college. It was fun and met more friends there. At the end of my program I went on a Caribbean Cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines. That was an amazing trip. I graduated in June 2010. After college I job hunted and bought a car. I ended up being an aunt in January 2011 and was so happy. My sister had a baby girl. Her name is Juliet Olivia Ann and was born January 28, 2011. She is named after me. A year after my niece was born, I moved to Grande Prairie, Alberta. In 2013, I became an aunt again. On January 28, 2013 my niece Sophie Elizabeth Clair was born. Since then, my life has been pretty boring. Working and also a trip to England in 2014. The other big event since then has been the birth of my nephews on July 1, 2017. Their names are Jack Theodor and James Douglas. They are all so sweet and lovely. Another thing about me is my love for cats, along with Disney. I have a cat named Allis and she is the cutest thing ever. Anyways. That’s about all I can think to write about myself. Thanks for reading!
Olivia Weber After 