written by Angela MacKenzie
Staff Reporter ‚ Coquitlam NOW
Courage is nothing new to a Coquitlam woman who will be honoured this month for her strength in overcoming adversity.
Florence Rita Rickards, who was featured in The NOW in November 2003 for her work in laughter therapy, will receive the 2004 Courage to Come Back Award in the social/economic adversity category at an April 29 dinner hosted by the Coast Mental Health Foundation.
The awards recognize British Columbians who have demonstrated extraordinary courage in recovering from injury, accident, illness and personal trauma.
Born in Winnipeg, Rickards was one of six children and grew up in extreme poverty. When she was 16, the family moved to B.C. and lived in a chicken coop for three months.
Rickards finally ran away with a man who promised to protect her. But when she got pregnant several months later at 17, he abandoned her.
Deciding not to give up her son for adoption, Rickards became a single mother at a time, she says, when society viewed her as an outcast.
For years, Rickards lived from hand-to-mouth. But despite the obstacles, she was determined to create a better life for herself and her son.
Attending night school while working full-time, Rickards eventually earned her high school graduation credits.
She earned a masters degree in business administration from Simon Fraser University in 1996, and has worked as a social worker, a vocational rehabilitation counsellor and a director of human resources.
She has also worked as a business and personal coach and founded Lighthouse Coaching and Consulting, an organization dedicated to inspiring people to realize their passions.
Earlier this year, she was honoured by the Tri–Cities Soroptomist International as a Woman of Distinction.
At the peak of her success, Rickards had to struggle to come back once again, this time from physical injuries she sustained when a truck slammed into her car in 1997, followed by two more collisions the following year.
Rather than sending her down a path of bitterness, vengeance and cynicism, the 54-year-old said she turned her difficult experiences into love, forgiveness and a compassion and empathy for other people.
“I’m not about crying about my past, and I’m not about reliving my past to wallow in it,” Rickards says. “But will I relive it in the hopes that it will help someone else? You bet, because that’s what I’m about — sharing my experiences, strengths and hopes so that it will help other people, give them hope, help them to let their light shine.”
