My life as an only child is a distant memory. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I became a mother to seven children. Now I appreciate all of the pain and the joy it provided.

I am the only child born to Maurice and Kitty (Segal) Raisen. My father was the first Jewish male born in the colony of Edenbridge, Saskatchewan. He was also the first to hold a Bar Mitzvah in the log cabin synagogue built by our family and friends. My mother moved from England to Edenbridge when she was a small child. She was the daughter of a Russian father (Izzy) and an English mother (Fanny Cohen), whose plans to go to New York to make their fortune were rerouted to Saskatchewan where they were promised a homestead for $10. I remember my maternal grandmother crying when comparing her well-appointed life in London with her much harder life in Canada.

Although I was born in Saskatoon, I spent the first nine years of my life living in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. My parents then moved to Winnipeg so that I would gain the exposure to a much larger Jewish community that included Hebrew schools, synagogues and social clubs. Settling in the north-end of Winnipeg, I recall that my father often changed his occupation in order to improve our family's economic position. I quickly became accustomed to life in the "big city" and enjoyed the social and educational environment as well as the much faster pace of city living. After graduating from St. John's High School, I attended the University of Manitoba to study Home Economics. While at university, I was introduced to my first husband, Israel Weinberg, who at the time was studying Actuarial Sciences.

Izzy and I started to date and quickly fell in love. We decided to marry, despite the fact that neither of us had finished our university education. I worked at Monarch Life while Izzy finished his studies and began his career at Great West Life. While working there, Izzy established a company called Loring Ward, which my father Maurice used for his real estate company. When my father retired, he kept the name active so that it would be available to one of my children in later years. My eldest son Marty chose to utilize it when he began his first business venture and continues to retain the name his father created.

I was devastated when Izzy was killed in a car accident only ten years after our marriage. I found myself a single mother raising three young children, Caron, Marty and Gary. With the unconditional and unparalleled support of my parents, I threw myself into raising my children in the most effective manner possible. I continued participating in Hadassah, National Council of Jewish Women, Ramah PTA, and the Shaarey Zedek Sisterhood while providing my children with both a Jewish education and a Jewish lifestyle.

Three years after the death of Izzy, I was introduced to a widower, Alex Sommer, and his four children, Reena, Naomi, Aaron and Hillel. After a few telephone conversations, I invited Alex over for eggplant, the only food, I later found out, he never eats. In spite of my poor food selection, one date led to another and then another, leading to a party at the Glendale Country Club. Our relationship began to move so quickly that I became unsure what I might be getting myself and my three children into. I retreated to Vancouver to think things through and left my children with my parents.

While in Vancouver, Alex called my mother to see how she was getting along with my kids. She was instantly sold on this very sensitive and concerned gentleman. Upon returning to Winnipeg, Alex and I decided to marry and bring our families together. This was after a few blended family dinners, where some children couldn't wait to get there and others couldn't wait to go home.

Alex and I married and very quickly realized that all the trials and tribulations that come with parenting one child had now been increased seven-fold. If I knew then what I know now, I might have been too intimidated to undertake the challenge. In order to assist us in raising our blended family, Alex and I attended a parenting course. We hoped to implement our newly found skills with our children, however they were much too bright and insightful for it to work. All was not lost however, as Alex was able to effectively apply these skills in his business. Along with this much larger family came all the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, all the boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, the marriages and the divorces. Everything in our life was and still is magnified - all of the joy and all of the sorrow.

We have been successful as a family in maintaining our separate pasts, while we planned our united future. I am currently the proud mother of seven children and "Bubby" to nineteen grandchildren who each contribute something special to our family. I am a firm believer that the "trip" not the "destination" is what life is all about and going from an only child to the grandmother of nineteen and growing has been quite a trip for me.