I used to say never but I guess I changed my mind. And I'm glad I did. My name is Theodore Jeunesse. My friends call me T.J. Who am I? A big and tall Black man of Haitian descent living in the City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario. I have lived in the City of Ottawa for a long time. My family moved there from the City of Cap-Haitien in the Republic of Haiti when I was much younger. A lot of people say the City of Ottawa is boring but it's really the political heart of the Confederation of Canada. I am proud to be one of the few high-ranking professionals of African descent working in the City's deeply private and cutthroat business sector.
Being a successful Black businessman in the Confederation of Canada isn't easy. A lot of times it's about who you know rather than what you know. Of course, being educated helps but it's not everything. I hold a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Carleton University and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. Presently I work for Futurist-Design Enterprises, as a mid-level executive. We do most if not all the high-tech and supremely cool car commercials in the Confederation of Canada. I was hired by the Head of Human Resources, Carolyn Anderson, mainly because we had mutual friends. Carolyn Anderson's best friend Anne Madison is a good friend and former classmate of mine at Carleton University. Anne recommended me and Carolyn hired me. How about that?
I see a lot of young Black women and young Black men at the major educational institutions of the City of Ottawa. Schools like the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Algonquin College and La Cite Collegiale have scores of Black students. Unfortunately, these students face an uphill climb in the job market once they graduate. I graduated from the University of Ottawa's MBA Program in 2006. I found a terrific job a mere three months after graduation. I guess you could say I was one of the lucky ones. I know plenty of Black men and Black women with University degrees in Ottawa who work lousy jobs because they can't find work in their fields. It's a very sad state of the affairs, folks. I try not to let it get to me.
As successful as I am in my professional life, my personal life is less than perfect. I love my family, of course. I recently bought a house in Toronto for my parents, Louis and Mathilda Jeunesse. A little something to thank them for raising me so well. It wasn't easy. Dad worked as a Corrections Officer and Mom worked as a restaurant manager. Somehow, they pulled it together to not only raise me but also to give me a better future. Us Haitians form such devoted and close-knit families. Unfortunately, today's young Black women lack the fortitude and devotion that made Black women the basis of all strong Black families in the old days. Case in point? Please read on!
Recently, I was dumped by my girlfriend of five years, Melissa Samson. The five-foot-nine, gorgeous Haitian-born and Montreal-based supermodel simply dumped me out of the blue. And in passing she revealed to me that she'd been having an affair with my ex-friend Sean Hawthorne, an Englishman who used to work as an accountant at F.D. Enterprises. I never knew that my Afro-centric ( Melissa loves African art and hates seeing Black men with White chicks ) Haitian girlfriend was into White guys. And I never knew my very married English colleague fancied my girlfriend. I guess I got played for a fool. That day, I nearly committed suicide, folks. I took about a thousand pills and landed in the hospital. Awesome way for a twenty-seven-year-old man of means to celebrate his birthday, eh?
Well, as fate would have it, I met someone special while at the hospital. Emily O'Shea. A six-foot-one, curvy and big-bottomed, absolutely stunning Irishwoman hailing from the City of Melbourne in Australia. Emily is a recent Nursing school graduate working at the Ottawa-Carleton Hospital. She has her Master's degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto. This thirty-something, blonde-haired and green-eyed, somewhat heavyset ( she proudly told me she's ten pounds heavier than me ) but totally sexy Australian lady is also the proud mother of a half-Japanese, half-Irish son named Shawn Yamamoto O'Shea. Her Japanese ex-husband Tom Yamamoto went back to Japan after his businesses in Australia took a hit during the Global Recession of the mid-2000s. Wanting a fresh start, Emily moved to Canada. That was five years ago. Wow.