About Gabriella

A writer has to own that environment impacts output. In my hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, you wake up to the sound of sea lions barking, fall asleep to the hooting of owls. I take this natural buffer as all the more reason to focus on issues in the wider world, not to hide away from them.

As a child, I traveled extensively as my father did scientific research in Africa, New Zealand, etc. From the age of four, I was taught to consider how things land on others. How are these people managing? What is their life like? Does the beauty of their home lessen their hardships?

As a young adult, I believed that positive change resulted from thoughtful policy, from effective governance, and I chose to invest much of my career in achieving change through activities like: creating regulations for organic agriculture, launching human resources development initiatives for Indigenous Peoples in Canada, promoting awareness in BC of the incredible happenings and achievements in First Nation communities, negotiating for self-governance.

All of these objectives were worthy, but something was still missing. Many years later, I decided to be useful by serving the elderly in my community; there are many, and many of them are quite isolated. It was through those interactions that I discovered something I could only capture well through writing creatively: the uniqueness of aging individuals.