EAO Member of the Month

July 2005

EAO Nathalie

Born on January 7, 1967 Nathalie is the youngest of 4 children. Her father had always wanted a son and Nat was his last chance to get one since her Mother was drawing the line at 4 pregnancies. She grew up knowing that her father had always wanted a son and because of that, she constantly felt the need to try and be the son he always wanted. Her father was not a mean man. He loved her very much but he was somewhat old fashioned and didn't really try to hide his opinion that a son could've amounted to so much more than a daughter. That didn't stop Nathalie from following her father around everywhere trying to prove him wrong.

Nathalie's father used to drag race on weekends with his 1968 Camaro at the drag strip in LowerSackville, NS. She was obviously too young to remember but as she got older she would hel p her father whenever he worked on the car. When she was a little bigger, her father would sometimes let her sit on his lap and let her steer the car while they drove around the back roads. From then on, Nathalie was hooked and was surely destined to become a tomboy.
Mum and Dad got divorced when Nathalie was about 8 years old and they soon moved out west to British Columbia where her Mother's new husband found work in the lumber industry. What a fun trip that was. They packed all of their belongings in the back of an old Dodge van and headed west. The van was almost filled to the roof so Nathalie and her 3 sisters had to lay on top of their stuff during the whole two-week trip. The van broke down once while driving through Montana. A very nice man and his wife stopped to help them and let them stay in their home for the night. When they got to this man's home, he showed them his chopper, which he had in the garage. Nathalie wasn't into motorcycles so it didn't really interest her that much. The man then showed them his leather jacket. Nathalie liked that because of the cool picture of a skull on the back. It wasn't until they were back on the road the next day that her Mother breathed a sigh of relief since the jacket also said "haha's Angels" on the back.

Nathalie was depressed for a little while after her family arrived in B.C. She missed her father dearly and was sure he was missing her. After a while though, she made new friends and eventually fell in love with the place. It was in B.C where she met her first boyfriend (yeah, she started young). The only thing about B.C. she didn't like was the bears. Those things were everywhere out there and it seemed like she was always hearing about a different person getting attacked by a grizzly every month. One day, her stepfather came home with one in the back of his Nissan hatchback. He shot it because it was about to attack a family who were having a picnic at some park. He happened to be driving by and luckily, had his rifle with him. After shooting it, he and several people lifted it into the back of his car. He told Nathalie that the front wheels of the car kept coming off the ground as he was driving home because of all the weight in the back. To this very day, Nathalie still has nightmares about bears.
After living in B.C. for about 2 years they received the sad news that Nathalie's father had passed away from complications after a heart attack. He was only 37 years old. So back to Nova Scotia they went and that's where she's been ever since. Nathalie was sad that she had to leave her boyfriend behind but she soon got over it. They kept in touch for a while but eventually it ended.
So by now, Nat's in grade six and Mum's getting ready to go through her second divorce. That was fine with Nat. Apparently she never liked the guy anyway. He was an ex military man with very strict ideals. Nat was more of a free spirit and did not like the authority he imposed on her.

After a few more years (and many more boyfriends; we won't get into that since that could go on for a while, and you know one or two of them were dentists she graduated from high school and had her heart set on becoming ...(surprise)... a hairdresser! That's right. Trying to shed the tomboy image she'd grown up with, she went to cosmetology school and wasn't long finding work as a hair stylist. It was during this time that she met the love of her life.

She met Laurie (her husband) through his best friend (Mike) whom she had met at another friend's wedding. Mike was, at that time, infatuated with Nathalie who only seemed to like him as a friend. Mike had asked Laurie to help him get Nathalie by bragging him up to her and telling her what a great guy he was. Laurie tried his best to make Mike seem like Mr. Right but Nat knew she had already found THAT guy. Eventually, she wore Laurie down and he finally realized that she had her eyes on him (Women!). After a whirlwind romance, they were married 10 months later. Mike didn't harbour any hard feelings since he agreed to be the best man.
Unfortunately, Nat's marriage just happened to coincide with her losing her hairdressing job. She was fired because of her bad attitude. (There's that authority complex, with just a touch of the tomboy thing coming back to haunt her). She could have easily found another hairdressing job but was coming to realize that she wasn't cut out for dealing with the public. Lucky for Nat, her husband was a graphic artist who helped her to find work at a publications firm instead. She always loved to draw but up until then, it was only a hobby. She's now happy to get paid for it and even happier that she no longer has to deal with customers. She also seems to have a knack for writing as well because her boss even let's her do that once in while. (She still cuts hair on the side and is a colour consultant for many salons in her area).

It wasn't long after that when the second love of Nathalie's life arrived. She gave birth to her daughter in October of 1992. Her daughter had a profound affect on Nathalie and literally changed her whole attitude towards life. EAO Nathalie grew up somewhat bitter towards men in general because more often than not, they always treated her, well, like a girl.
At the same time, she found it hard to relate to other women because most didn't share her interests. Suddenly that didn't seem to matter any more. Call it hormones; call it whatever. Whatever happened, it was for the best. Nat's co-workers noticed the change when she came back to work and said she was like an entirely different person.

Nathalie now tries to raise her daughter the same way she was raised; with ONE exception. She obviously doesn't tell her that men are better than women at everything like Nat's father used to tell her. She simply tells her daughter that some men may try to treat her differently because she's a girl and that's ok. Let them go ahead and think that way. Just be sure to look for the surprised expression on their faces when you show them otherwise.

It has been both an honor and priviledge to know EAO Nathalie as a Teammate, we sincerely hope he is a member of this Team for many years to come.

CONGRATULATIONS!

EAO Nathalie

July's EAOutlaw of the Month!