Obituary for Christina Marie Alm

Life Story for Christina Marie Alm

What will remain in my memory forever of Christina is the courage she summoned every day to follow her heart and live a sustainable life in the 21st century. My experiences with Christina see her as the model of “walking the talk”. She lived her life with discretion, deeply connecting with people as she went about her day of inquiring, exploring, listening, experiencing, learning.

Denis and Myrt, Lone, Laurie, Shelby and Christina’s many dear friends; my heart opens to your loss of your dear daughter, mother, partner, friend. May you find loving kindness through the many experiences you and others have shared with Christina over the years.

I have many connections with Christina during her life’s journey, and knowing that Christina had such a diverse group of friends and interests I welcome other people sharing their experiences allowing each of us to embrace all aspects of Christina as she lived her life to the fullest.

In 1980, when Christina was seven, I took her and her sister Laurie on a road trip to Peace River to visit with her Grandmother. I remember her excitement during the entire trip and the never ending smile on her face. There was the spring of 1991 when Christina’s Dad and the girls came for a visit to Vancouver, Denis decided a train trip might be a good adventure for the two girls so he put them on the train in Edmonton and then made his way to Vancouver in his car to meet them. Bruce and I enjoyed their company so much we invited them back for the summer to babysit David who was less than a year old; Christina’s excitement with being in the city, how she convinced Laurie to venture down to English Bay and watch the Celebration of Light fireworks.

As Christina moved into adulthood, our connection was at family reunions. I remember Christina’s fascination and commitment to investigating the Alm genealogy and her excitement with how far back she was able to track the family of origin in Sweden.

And then in 2007 she moved to Vancouver. Bike in hand, Vancouver became her real home, her friends say she was more of a Westender than the best of the born and bred Westenders. Christina was busy establishing herself, her social community and her work.

Christina’s work journey supported her heart, her sustainable environmentally friendly vision. This was a fundamental focus of her life. She started at Capers, very proud to be working for a grocery store that started the growth of the organic and natural foods industry in Vancouver. It was during this time I saw Christina’s passion for a sustainable life blossom, she had a keen interest and knowledge of the ethical sustainable business model. When Capers was purchased by Whole Foods and its business model started to digress from supporting the local foods, regional producers, and distributors, Christina once again followed her heart and started a career with Discovery Organics, a Vancouver based independently owned Canadian distributor of certified organic and fair trade produce. Her work with Discovery Organics provided many learning opportunities, one of which was a trip with management to Baja, doing their due diligence ensuring the selection of organic produce. She augmented this learning by studying urban design and planning at Simon Fraser University and becoming involved with the My Own Backyard (MOBY) community garden near Commercial and 7th in Vancouver, serving as President for the past two years, working with the community developing it into a fruitful community garden. All work for a great cause. Christina’s experiences and my keen interest in the business world provided fuel for many enlightening discussions.

I have many fond connections with Christina since her move to Vancouver. As always, she worked close to where she lived allowing her to bike everywhere. At one point she lived in a community beside John Hendry Park. Her Dad and I were going to visit her, so she said if we let her know when we were close to her house she would come home from work. As we rounded the corner at Garden St and 16th Ave in our car, Christina whizzed around the corner on her bike with such pizazz that I knew she had found her space. We explored the great outdoors, the Bald Eagle nesting grounds along the Fraser River, we hiked to the top of Whistler Mountain and along Inland Lake at Powell River. Christina always had her camera ready to take pictures, the more unique the photo op the better.

The last year was a special year, I worked 5 minutes from where she lived and worked, so we met on numerous occasions for a coffee or lunch, sharing many intimate moments, like figuring out what new directions our life needed to take from our fortune cookie messages!! Christina would take a break from the city and come to my house in what she called the burbs. She’d come with backpack in hand, full of produce, always a bunch of bananas, sometimes a few avocado for guacamole, a few limes and lemons, a variety of mushrooms, a variety of garlic. I was never sure what the prize was going to be. It was always a joy to arrive home to a surprise meal that Christina had made from what she brought and the leftovers in my fridge, Mikes and my favorite being her baked tortillas.

During our wilderness excursions, over preparing food, during our many great discussions, I learned more of Christina’s style. She was always the first to pitch in and offer help and she embraced life and her beliefs in such a way that allowed harmony with those that agreed and those that differed.

I miss Christina immensely, am saddened of the lost opportunity of so much more learning, but understand that is only my expectation, my wish, not her journey, and with that I continue my journey with the wisdom acquired and the deepest of appreciation for the experiences we shared over the years. Namaste.