What started out as the journal of a 12-year-old girl ended up as the interesting, often entertaining, sometimes poignant chronicle of one woman’s life … a life lived so far.
Life is What Happens, is the 500-page memoir of Alli Miriam (Luoma) Graham, written with the assistance of Susan Elizabeth Green.
The book chronicles Graham’s life, from her early childhood growing up in the small railway community of Squilax in the 1920s, through her marriage of 52 years and bringing up a family, to the present day.
Graham was born in Chase in 1924, the youngest of three girls.
Dropping out of school after Grade 8, Graham says she was raised doing “tough, boys jobs.”
“I think I was the boy that my father never was able to raise,” she said. “I think from my very early years I was doing boy’s chores, so I think that’s where it all started from when they saw I was capable of doing those jobs.”
Graham’s book details many other jobs that were considered “men’s work,” such as skidding firewood and cleaning chimneys.
“I used to skid firewood every winter on my parents’ farm,” she said. “I even skidded firewood for the Japanese internment camp when it was open at Yard Creek during the war years.”
In 1952, Graham moved to Revelstoke, where she found herself campaigning for a number of causes. From campaigning on behalf of the citizens of the Farwell neighbourhood who were unhappy about paying the same taxes for fewer services as the people uptown, to protesting against putting fluoride in Revelstoke’s water, Graham made her opinions known.
Graham has seen a lot of changes in her day and she reflects upon her life – so far – with humour and nostalgia.
Her story is one of tenacity, love and perseverance.
Life is What Happens is an enjoyable read – the kind of book that reminds one of their own family stories. The ones you always wished had been written down for others to read and enjoy.
Graham’s book is indeed a gift to her own family, who will forever be able to access the history of their own family.