PrimeTime Magazine PrimeTime Spring 2019 | Page 16
On the Move
Paul Gaudet [email protected]
The genesis of my being
began in a seedy hotel room
in Halifax in 1951, where my
future parents were celebrating
the success of their latest bank
robbery by indulging in some
extracurricular activity …. ok I
am just kidding.
I was born in Moncton in 1951
and lived in Lewisville with my
parents and three siblings (one
brother and twin sisters). My
father Rudy was a car foreman
at CNR and my mother Marie
worked in the Accounts office
at Eaton’s.
I went to a French catholic
parochial school St. Louis de
France and was taught by the
nuns there. I was an excellent
student in those days finishing
at or near the top of my class
most of the time. We spoke
English at home as my father
was anglicized while growing
up in North Sydney, (Cape
Breton, N.S.) and my mother
who is of Irish descent comes
from the Miramichi area. I
credit my sister Patsy
for teaching me to read at a
young age and giving me a
lifelong passion for the
English language.
I went to Moncton High school
for what was to be a rather
unremarkable academic career.
I was a good athlete, played
football and later tennis. I
attended the University of
Moncton for two years, did
summer schooling at U.P.E.I
and took a journalism course at
Holland college. I worked in
the hospitality industry for
many years as a bartender
and later as a bar manager in
various locations.
In my later years I had a few
physical setbacks. My life
changed dramatically when I
had to have quadruple bypass
heart surgery in Saint John at
the age of 49. I must give credit
and thanks to my friend Patricia
Sauriol Dupuis who badgered
me to have my shortness of
breath episodes looked into and
who in retrospect saved my life.
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PrimeTime SPRING/PRINTEMPS 2019
Route 114, Hopewell Cape
Albert County/Comté d’Albert
The surgery (performed by the
amazing Dr. Parrott) was an
unqualified success and really
changed my way of thinking
about my smoking habit and
lack of exercise. I embarked
upon a regimen of physical
activity and then joined the
Moncton Outdoor Enthusiasts
(a club which has enriched and
prolonged my life).
The Outdoor Enthusiasts are
for the most part a hiking club
and I grabbed on to the hiking
world like my life depended
on it - which it probably did. It
fostered in me a deep love and
appreciation for the beauty and
purity of nature that I will carry
with me until the end of my life.
This spring it will be 19 years
of blissful hiking, snowshoeing
and other outdoor activities, not
to mention many meaningful
relationships, all because of my
association with this club.
Later on, more bad health
news was to plague me in the
form of prostate cancer which
I had treated in Moncton by
the innovative methods of
Dr. Felice (Georges Dumont
Hospital) who performed
brachytherapy which involves
inserting 102 radioactive
isotopes in or near the prostate
(a lovely experience). That
was more than ten years ago
and so far so good.
Then there was my hip which
had been acting up for years
and began to seriously affect
my ability to hike, so I finally
had to have hip replacement