Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.
Wearing a bright yellow taffeta dress, a sash of satin ribbons at the waist and flowing with swirling layers, my granddaughter arrives for the movie. We’ve been trying to get in to see Beauty and the Beast for weeks now and finally secured tickets. “Well look at you!” I exclaim, arms open to receive her […]
The challenge, when dealing with a chronic illness – in my case ME/CFS – is staying positive. Momentary improvements in health are toppled by extreme crashes. It’s like living in an eddy where, every once a while, the current quiets and it feels as if there might be an escape, and then the weather shifts […]
I keep dreaming about young men: confidant, seductive, virile young men. In my dreams, they cozy up to me, offer promises of love, and always, I remember who I am – a dried up old woman condemned to disability – and wake up…reluctantly. Thing is, men have always been a mystery to me, like a […]
I have to confess that post-election, I have been afraid of what is happening in my neighbouring country – rallies and rhetoric, protests, and a president-elect who seems more prepared for battle than for harbouring peace. Doubts about the safety of travelling in the States at this time have crossed our minds. “Keep your political […]
Travelling South in a forty-foot vehicle is not akin to driving in a car. Apart from the obvious size difference, there are other factors to take into consideration. For one, the dashboard heater has a lot bigger job to do. If you are like me, the idea of heading into warmer temperatures makes me want […]
One day and forty-five minutes late, we are off on our new adventure. It is still dark outside and the temperature is minus seven Celcius. This is the first time I’ve been in the passengers seat and I am high up. The delay happened because Ric decided to have a mechanic go over the RV […]
My husband is googling “The Declaration of Independence”. I am just trying to breathe: a tempest of emotions, thoughts, and fears attacking rationality. I try to think back to another time when I felt such terror…to reassure myself that this will all pass…but I think about my son who recently converted to Muslim for the […]
A forty-one foot Alfa See Ya sits in the driveway awaiting take off. Ric has had to get medical clearance after two heart attacks and triple bypass surgery in the spring. He has also had to get special licensing to drive our new soon to be home. We have purchased a mobility scooter for yours […]
The longest my family ever lived in one place was when I was aged four to eleven. We lived in a house, built by my father, with a fortress of cedars on either side of the backyard to “keep out nosy neighbours”. Behind was a farmer’s field and beyond a wooded area. My father had […]
In dreams, I walk, no concern for the distance. I ride a bicycle, or drive a car. I move with purpose and direction… …until lucidity snaps me back to reality and then I plummet into the despair of knowing these are no longer options for me. In dreams, I confront life’s issues, face my foes, […]