Dear Editor.
After reading your article a couple of weeks ago about longtime Bowen residents leaving the island, it got me to thinking about why our family moved here last September.
Moving to Bowen meant slowing things down, melding into another community and way of life, and getting away from all the structure, amenities, and “perks” that most cities provide in the Lower Mainland.
We thought we could take a step back, away from overscheduling our kids, having lots of family time, meeting other like-minded families, and just being together at home and in nature.
I wanted a quiet place for our pets and to provide a calm setting for our foster dogs too.
We came for less structure and less conformity.
We came from Coquitlam, which seems to embrace structure and conformity. Heading to Bowen, we hoped for a big change: less everything, more nothing. We have immersed ourselves in this community.
We are already volunteering with local groups and trying to positively add to this proactive, giving community.
We didn’t ask for the community to change for us; we came to adapt to it. Although we haven’t had to adapt much at all, Bowen feels like home already, partly because Bowen embraced and welcomed us as a new family, which was amazing.
When we first moved to our new home last December, our dog kept getting out due to our old decrepit fence and one neighbour took him in and fed him not knowing where this skinny dog came from. Other neighbours came by at night, knocking on the door with flashlights, to ensure he had a home, and other neighbours escorted him off the road when he was wandering.
That kind of thing just doesn’t happen in Coquitlam. Nor does another neighbour dropping off cookies and presents for our kids the week we moved in!
I just wanted to write in to support this community as it is. I hope that Bowen can stay cool amidst all the pressure to conform.
Keep it real, Bowen.
Rebecca Lyne
