Staying busy is in Marie Adams’ DNA, and after a second breast cancer diagnosis followed by radiation treatment in 2024, she’s more determined to make every hour count.
Embracing her Passion for History
“I have difficulty slowing down enough to even read a book,” she says from her home in Yellowknife, NWT, where she’s lived for the past 45 years. “I have this urge to keep busy at all costs, and I wonder if somewhere in my subconscious I feel that I must keep running before any illness stops me in my tracks.”
Marie is retired from the Government of Canada, where she worked in various regulatory and environmental roles which often related to the mining industry. She describes herself as “technically” retired because she’s also spent the last 25 years working with the Yellowknife Historical Society to secure funding for and open the new Yellowknife Historical Museum.
What started out to be a mining museum evolved to become one that celebrates Yellowknife’s rich and “quirky” history, including exhibits that showcase the mining industry and characters who carved out a living in the north. Importantly, the museum also reminds visitors of the Indigenous history of the area and the changes that occurred when settlers moved in. The museum, located at the Giant Mine, a decommissioned gold mine, celebrated its first year of operation in March.
Marie has been involved in many aspects of the museum’s creation, including grant proposals, strategic planning, communications, accounting, and working with the other volunteers on the board to oversee a two-year renovation project that converted an old gold mine building to house the museum.
“It’s a great place with a restaurant overlooking Great Slave Lake,” says Marie. “It’s a success and lots of people visit, but it’s a lot of work — in some ways it’s like a regular job.”
Downtime Conundrum
The Yellowknife Historical Museum is just one of many endeavours that keep Marie busy these days. She’s been in a local choir for over 30 years, she loves to travel, and when summer camping season starts, her to-do list grows. Her partner, Bruce, operates two campgrounds near Yellowknife, and Marie makes regular supply deliveries to each site throughout the season.
Marie says it’s challenging to find downtime in a bustling town like Yellowknife, where residents love music and the arts and there’s always something going on. “Many people would say, ‘I’ve had a tough day; I need to lie on a beach and be absolutely quiet,’ but Bruce and I will look at each other and say, ‘There’s a band playing, let’s go!’”
Tranquility to Travel
During her month-long stay at Compassion House, Marie says she enjoyed many moments of solitude in the quiet spaces where residents could retreat. She also valued the warm sense of community among the women. “It was so nice to be in a women’s residence, and I hope they never change that. I appreciated that Compassion House was there for me when I needed it. The staff are so caring and wonderful.”
As summer approaches, Marie is focusing on physiotherapy and exercise classes to rebuild strength in her knees, which have sidelined her hiking and cross-country skiing adventures this year. But this setback hasn’t deterred her from booking a trip to Puerta Vallarta with her son. “I hope my knee doesn’t hold me up too much, because I really want to walk places,” she says, reminiscing about travelling last year to France and Italy, where she walked everywhere.
Marie says through her cancer journey she’s become more resilient to life’s twists and turns, and even if she spends most of the trip relaxing on a beach, that’s a twist she can embrace.
