Milestones

If you’re a parent, you know about milestones. They make you proud. They also tend to make you a bit wistful. Children’s milestones are a time of celebration but also a time of letting go.

Brenda Salmon, Office Manager for Lagois Design·Build·Renovate and mother of four, knows about milestones.

Actually, these days she’s being bombarded with them.

One child is about to present her with her first grandchild. One is taking ownership of his first home in November. One is far away in New Zealand, a newly-graduated veterinarian about to start a position at a clinic in Perth, Australia.

And her youngest is about to leave the nest, too.

Her name is Brie, short for Gabrielle. She’s a talented young musician headed for a career as a teacher.

Brie and Brenda spent a day recently touring Queen’s University in Kingston. She hopes to take concurrent education along with her Bachelor of Music with a minor in English. She’s also applying to Carleton and Windsor, but that would mean getting her degree first and then going to teachers’ college, adding a year to her studies.

Last summer Brie worked at a day camp at the Aquatarium in Brockville. “You’d better find out if you like working with kids,” her mother advised. And she did. She loved it.

Music is at her core. “Brie was singing before she could talk,” her proud mother says.

University will be a milestone for Brie (and her parents), but two more are happening right now. As of Dec. 1, Brie’s own song, recorded at The Powder Room Studio in Brockville, will be on all the major musical platforms ‒ Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube. It’s called “The Brighter Side” and it celebrates the positive in anything that happens in life. Brie sings, plays 12-string guitar and piano and even does the backup vocals. A local celebrity, she often plays at area events and charities. During Covid, she taught herself how to use the ukulele and for four years played with the Brockville Lions Steel Band. ( Watch for her next single release coming in February 2024!) Check out and follow her on her Facebook page here.

Brie is not only a musician but an athlete who loves basketball, volleyball, and baseball. She was pleased to know Queen’s has several different fitness studios and a pool.

Her application will be in the hands of the three universities at the same time she and her mother take a trip of a lifetime to visit Brie’s sister, Shaylie, in New Zealand. It will be a long and adventurous trip, and they’re looking forward to it.

They plan on staying until just after Christmas, so if the Lagois office seems like it’s missing someone, things will undoubtedly perk up when Brenda returns in the new year…with a new Grandmother milestone yet to come.