The First Nine Days
October 1, 1971: A crucible of sudden crisis, a father's solitary crossing, and the Russian Mennonite sanctuary in St. Catharines.
On the morning of October 1, 1971, at 04:40 in St. Catharines, Ontario, life began not in tranquil ease, but in an immediate trial of resilience.
Moments after delivery, my mother, Deborah Marie Penner, fell gravely ill with severe complications and had to remain hospitalized under intensive care and isolation. What was anticipated as a celebration of new life was instantly transformed into an urgent family crisis.
Separated from my mother, I was placed into the arms of my father, Mark Steven Wood. A young man thrust without warning into total, solitary responsibility, he carried his newborn son through the hospital doors into the autumn chill of St. Catharines alone.
The Sanctuary of Catherine & Jacob Penner
My father brought me home to the house of my maternal grandparents, Catherine and Jacob Penner.
The Penners were Russian Mennonites who had migrated from the border community of Gretna, Manitoba—a culture forged across generations of quiet agrarian faith, mutual aid, and unyielding fortitude in the face of displacement and upheaval.
In their St. Catharines home, under the unwavering care of my father and grandparents, I was nurtured through the first nine days of my life while my mother fought her illness in the hospital.
For nine days and nights, this familial sanctuary held the line. On October 10, 1971, the vigil concluded: my mother overcame the illness, returned home, and our family foundation was restored.
That opening trial became an enduring touchstone for my life and work. It instilled an early reverence for quiet fortitude, the irreplaceable sanctuary of family, and the imperative to build systems—whether human, mechanical, or digital—capable of withstanding acute disruption and safeguarding life.