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LOOKING BACK AT 2010
YEAR IN REVIEW: Our look back at 2010 begins with our picks for photos of the year. Today, we show you photos that made No. 6 through 10. Page 3
PEOPLE
A Christmas with clarity Pair of ‘shining stars’ in Surrey have much to celebrate this year
A
fter years of struggling on the Marisa BABIC Staff Reporter streets, Marilyn Peters and James Norburn have a home for Christmas. The couple, both recovering alcoholics, will celebrate Christmas morning in a nice new basement suite in the Fleetwood area of Surrey, complete with hardwood floors and a granite countertop in the kitchen. There will be presents under the Christmas tree but the couple’s best gift already arrived five weeks ago, their baby boy, Daneil. “It’s totally different than last year, last Christmas was a blur,” says Peters, who admits to the alcoholic haze. “I look at myself now, and I can’t believe I’m here right now. Last year, I didn’t think I would ever be in this position where I would have Daneil and I’d be in a great relationship and have so much support around me. It’s awesome.” The road to recovery was a tough one. Both Peters and Norburn come from troubled backgrounds. Norburn, 26, comes from a family of nine children, all of them adopted. He considers himself lucky in that he was able to stay together with his sister, and be adopted into the same home. He left home at the age of 18 and ended up on the streets of Surrey a year later. For a time, he crashed in various shelters in Surrey and downtown Vancouver, in between bouts of “drinking and partying.” In 2006, Norburn checked into rehab to dry out. “I stayed clean for almost six months then I feel off the wagon again and kept drinking,” he says. Peters, 23, comes from a family where alcohol has ruined lives. The death of three family members in the same year, her father and both grandmothers, was a devastating blow and she took frequent solace in alcohol to cope with her staggering loss. Two years ago, she enrolled in college and received a secretarial certificate but never got a chance to make use of it. Peters and her mother lost their place and sought refuge in a series of homeless shelters. Peters and Norburn, who met in New Westminster, have been coming to the Surrey Urban Mission in Whalley for the past four years where they have received mats for the night and many meals. They’ll be sharing Christmas dinner with about 300 other guests at the mission.
see REBUILDING A LIFE page 3
❚PHOTO/Ted Colley
Things are looking up for former Surrey Urban Mission clients Marilyn Peters and James Norburn who now stop by three times a week to help others. While they serve meals, staff and volunteers compete to see who gets to hold their five-week-old son, Daneil.