I love P.E.I. But it's no longer the affordable place I knew growing up

This First Person column is the experience of Maggie Campbell, a wife, mother and sous chef living in New Annan, P.E.I. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

As a child growing up on P.E.I., I always imagined I would one day raise my children on my family's homestead. A beautiful property in Irishtown, just west of French River, with two two-storey homes, green fields as far as you could see and a little cherry orchard. It was my grandparent's pride and joy and was built and added to by multiple generations of my family. 

I vividly imagined walking to Cousins Shore with my children in summer, having family meals in the fall made from the food we grew and cozy story times around my gran's old piano.

I wish this is how my story played out.

But it was too difficult to divide the land between the many grandchildren when my grandparents died, so it was sold to a neighbouring farmer — never to be called home again by the Campbells who lived and loved there for a century. 

I'm 32 now and married to a wonderful hard-working man who was born and raised fishing lobster in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. We have three beautiful children and pets we love. We're content. 

Our oldest son recently told me he'll build me my dream house when he becomes an engineer one day. He's seven. He asked me to describe that dream house and, for a moment, I could picture my beloved Irishtown homes and how I would have rebuilt them.

But that dream is lost to me, and the possibility of owning any home in my lifetime is also lost.  

My husband and I battled addiction for many years. We came close to death, injury and arrest many times, but somehow we found our way out. We got sober six years ago and moved to Halifax to be near family and raise our boys far from the things that we associated with our addiction. 

We now maintain a quiet, law-abiding life. We have dedicated the last six years to rebuilding our lives and fixing our mistakes. We run a small Christmas charity every year to help local families get through the holidays. 

We moved back to P.E.I. two years ago, thinking we could start on the path to eventually owning our own home. My husband has a full-time job with benefits as a glass technician. We should be well on our way, right? 

Wrong.

My husband's full-time job barely covers the rent on our three-bedroom home. We couldn't afford daycare for three kids, so I haven't been able to work full-time. We need social assistance to make ends meet. 

In January, our family dog Thor got sick. The $1,700 bill sent us over the edge financially. We paid for it by dipping into our savings and borrowed the rest from a friend.