Bernadine Hewitt: A Brief Biography

Bernadine Hewitt was born in 1967 in Newfoundland, Canada. She received an associate degree in nursing in 1988 and has been working in the nursing field ever since. In 1990, she welcomed her first child into the world, and by 1994 had three daughters and a husband living in a quaint house about a 2 minute walk from the ocean. Her husband, a construction worker named Jamie, had a small-town reputation of a troublemaker and the town was at first shocked by the marriage. Twenty two years and a couple of moves later, the pair is still going strong living in Alberta, Canada. When looking back on important events of her time, Bernie struggled to think of something that really stood out except for September 11 until I mentioned the Great Recession. This event had influenced her, her family, and still to this day affects and haunts her.

Newfoundland, Canada, is known for harsh, snowy winters. Working in construction, Jamie was unable to work for many months of the year due to the Canadian winter conditions. He didn’t want to go back to school and learn a new trade and the couple struggled to make a living on one full-time salary. They started looking in the United States for jobs in good places and found an opportunity to move to High Point, North Carolina. Bernie found work as an ER nurse at High Point Regional and within 12 weeks, both she and Jamie were working full-time. Jamie eventually began his own contracting company and was able to work 6-7 days a week all through the year. North Carolina temperatures featured extreme heat and some chilly winters, but he worked through it to support his