A Life Recharted and Anchored in Strength

The first word Glen ever spoke was “boat.” It came out as he stood in his mother’s arms on a dock, pointing toward the vessel that had just carried his father, Larry, home. For Glen, the rhythm of the sea and the quiet pride of a life built on the water was simply home.

His father was the kind of man who built his life around two things: family and fishing. A fifth-generation fishing captain, he spent weeks at sea, yet somehow never missed what mattered most. Birthdays, milestones and moments that tied a family together – he was always there. Fishing wasn’t just a livelihood, it was a legacy, passed down through generations, now carried on by Glen’s brother as the sixth. 

Beyond the boats and the tides, Larry was defined by motion. He played university soccer, skated through countless hockey seasons, and sailed at a world-class level. He was the kind of person who didn’t sit still for long.

That’s what made the early signs of multiple sclerosis so difficult for Larry and his family to grasp. At first, it was just a limp. He brushed it off, attributing it to something ordinary. Maybe a bad back, maybe arthritis. For a long time, he didn’t say much about it. He understood, before anyone else, what the diagnosis might mean, and he carried that weight quietly. When he eventually told his sons, the reality didn’t land all at once.

“There wasn’t a single moment of shock,” Glen recalls. “It was more of a gradual realization.”

His primary progressive MS (PPMS) came in like a slow tide, inching forward, reshaping everything in its path. First, there was the cane. Then a device to stimulate his leg so he could keep walking. Then a walker. Eventually, an electric wheelchair as both legs became affected. Over time, the progression reached beyond mobility, touching more aspects of his daily life.

Each stage came with adjustment and each loss required adaptation. And yet, what stands out most in Glen’s memory isn’t what his father lost, it’s what he refused to give up. The realities of MS are often found in the details most people never think about. Travel becomes complicated. Everyday routines require planning. Independence is redefined again, and again. For Glen’s father, one of the greatest challenges was staying connected to the life he loved. Fishing, hockey, and sailing weren’t hobbies, they were pieces of his identity.

Larry found new ways in. He managed hockey teams when he could no longer play. He supported fisheries from shore when he couldn’t captain boats. He mentored the next generation, passing on knowledge that his diagnosis couldn’t take away. He even helped adapt sailboats so he could continue racing on the water.

None of it was easy, but through it all, there was another constant: Glen’s mother, steady and unwavering, a partner in every sense of the word. “She’s been his rock every step of the way,” Glen says.

For Glen, growing up alongside his father’s journey with MS reshaped everything, including his perspective, priorities, and ultimately, his path. Like many families facing a progressive illness, there was always a quiet hope lingering in the background, that maybe the progression would stop and maybe things would stabilize.

Letting go of that hope wasn’t a single moment either, it was a process. “That’s the hardest part,” Glen admits. “You keep wanting to believe it won’t get worse.” Alongside that difficulty came something unexpected: a deeper understanding of resilience.

His father has what Glen describes as a gift, the ability to find something positive in any situation. It’s not denial, it’s a deliberate choice. A way of meeting hardship without letting it define the terms. That mindset left a lasting imprint.

“It taught me there’s no better time than now,” Glen says. “And that how you choose to see something can change everything.”

Those lessons shaped the life Glen went on to build. After studying engineering and launching a successful tech company, he found himself pulled back toward something more personal, something that felt like home. The result was Larry’s Catch, a Canadian seafood company rooted not just in quality products, but in family history and community connection.

Named after his father, the business reflects the same values that defined his upbringing: integrity, independence, and a deep respect for the people behind the work. It supports small, family-run fisheries across Canada and emphasizes genuine human connection in every interaction.

For Glen, Larry’s Catch is more than a business. Starting a company in his father’s name came with a sense of responsibility – to make it stand for something beyond itself. Supporting the MS community became a natural extension of that. Through fundraising efforts, participating in events like MS Walk and MS Bike, and building connections within the community, Glen has found a way to give back to a cause that has shaped his family so profoundly.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” he says. Today, the impact of MS is still present and evolving. That reality doesn’t disappear, and neither does the sense of purpose that has grown alongside it.

If Glen could offer one piece of advice to others navigating a similar journey, it would be simple, but hard-earned, “The biggest thing you can control is your mindset. Try to find the silver linings wherever you can.”

It’s the same lesson his father has lived every day. And while the disease has changed many things, it hasn’t changed everything. His father still dreams about being out on the water, where Glen says, “in many ways, he’s never really left.”