In It Together: Iain and Lesley's Story
Iain and Lesley Tulloch share their experiences with moving to Nova Scotia, their connections to the ocean, and how they found support during Iain's diagnosis
She was from England and he was from Scotland, but after fate brought them together, Lesley and Iain Tulloch decided to try living somewhere completely new to both of them—Canada. The year was 1966 and they settled in Quebec, had four children, and six years later, moved to Nova Scotia.
Iain was from a family of boat builders and worked as a ship designer and naval architect. “Any ferry you’ve ever taken in the Maritimes, I helped to build,” he says proudly. Lesley raised the kids and later took a job in a law firm. They both retired in the year 2000.
Fast forward 25 years and they’ve left the big city of Halifax for Hubbards. Fox Point to be exact. They now have 11 grandchildren and are still very active. Hiking, biking, sailing, badminton, and table tennis are only some of the pursuits that have kept the couple young at heart and fit as a fiddle.
They are also both avid readers and creatively inclined—Lesley is an oil and watercolour painter and Iain still builds boats. In fact, he’s currently putting the finishing touches on his 25th sailboat. A former competitive sailor, Iain once represented Canada at the World Sailing Championship.
So when they got the news from Iain’s geriatrician a year ago that he had mild cognitive impairment (MCI), they were concerned that his diagnosis would affect their quality of life.
A referral to the Alzheimer Society resulted in the couple enrolling in one of the Society’s programs called Shaping The Journey. It’s designed to provide both information and support to a person with a recent diagnosis of dementia and a care partner (could be a family member or a friend).
This six-week course is offered in numerous locations around the province. Iain and Lesley attended in Bridgewater and met people from as far away as Shelburne and Yarmouth. Lesley especially enjoyed the part of the program where the care partners were able to talk alone about some of the challenges they were experiencing.
One of the things that the couple has grappled with is who to tell about Iain’s diagnosis. So far, they’ve let their family and a few close friends know and that feels like enough for now.
Iain and Lesley are keen to meet more people who are in the same boat and take advantage of the other supports on offer at the Alzheimer Society. This includes participating in the Connections Hub program, a social group for people with early-stage dementia. It provides a safe, friendly space where participants can connect, converse, and share experiences.
“It can feel like a bit of a lonely road. And quite isolating,” says Lesley. “Sometimes we feel like we’re all on our own out here, but knowing there are others who are at similar stages of the same journey really helps.”