I had a dream that I might be able to help people by sharing the valuable experience and wisdom I have acquired over my eighty-six years, that made me the man I am today. This is not about fame or financial benefit; I am simply hoping to do my part to leave a better world for my great-grandchildren. To inspire all those who read it to live a better, more meaningful life. Perhaps my greatgrandchildren will someday read the life lessons I strived to pass along to their parents.
After all, experience not shared is lost.
I am what people call a self-made man. I was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1938 to Belgian immigrants who worked hard to build a life from nothing but the tiny, abandoned farmhouse they were given. I had very little official education; leaving elementary school to join the work force. I worked my way up through different companies, often holding two or three full time jobs at once. I was a gentleman bouncer at Jarry Park, owned apartment buildings, was a foreman for Canada Packers, owned a restaurant, worked at Pratt and Whitney, and even had a small role in a 1973 thriller movie (The Pyx). I retired from Pratt and Whitney at fifty-five as a Senior Project Manager and manufacturing engineer, but I started out as a foreman's clerk. And it wasn't so much of a retirement as an opportunity for me to invest my time in a business that was mine, Camping Alouette inc., a campground that I built into a luxury five-star resort.
My biggest accomplishment, however, is my sixty-six-year marriage to the love of my life, Barbara, with whom I have three children, six grandchildren, and soon-to-be seven great-grandchildren. She was there by my side through failed business attempts, long hours, and now, finally, as we reap the rewards of our labor.
I do not have all the answers. I have failed nearly as often as I have succeeded. But I kept trying. I came from a very poor upbringing, but still managed to succeed in this beautiful country, and to live a life I never could have imagined. Here are the lessons that helped me along the way.