Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
“Who is the audience?” As an English teacher I often asked this question, to which many students would reply: “Everyone.” Everyone, of course, is not the correct answer, but I understand how difficult it is to define such as elusive entity as ‘audience’. “Imagine,” I would invite them, “that you just failed an important test and […]
Read MoreEarly on in our relationship, Ric and I signed up for ballroom dancing classes. It was a small class for beginners, so we thought it might be a good fit; both of us loved to dance. “I’m not very good at letting someone else take the lead,” I confessed on the first night. “In dancing, […]
Read MoreWhen illness struck our household it knocked over our bucket list, spilling much of the content into the drain. We were like bystanders at a train wreck: watching our lives spiral out of control, desperately trying to sift through the rubble to find signs of survival. Depression, anger, and grief were just some of the […]
Read MoreMinutes after my first husband and I were settling into our honeymoon suite, I got a call from my father advising me that my oldest sister had gone from the wedding reception to emergency. “I think you better come,” he told me solemnly. So we packed up and headed back. I had known that my […]
Read MoreSaw a picture of you today – us, just approaching sixteen – and instantly recognized the awkwardness with which you carry yourself: the painful self-consciousness, never knowing quite where you fit in or even if you are good enough to be in the picture. Since today is our birthday, I decided to dedicate this post […]
Read MoreBefore illness (ME/CFS), I had my life lined up, like a shopkeeper perfectly aligning her shelves, ready to get down to business. One more course and I would be at the top pay scale, qualified to fill many shoes in the education field. I had landed my dreamed-for job in Special Education, and was starting […]
Read MoreI dream that Ric has removed our dining table. There has been no discussion, no explanation, just an empty space to mark his actions. Even in my dreams, I am asking questions: Is he having it repaired, or replacing it? Surely, not replacing, I think, as the table was his mother’s. I conclude that all […]
Read More“How will we cope when you get out of hospital?” I asked my husband during his week-long stay on the Cardiac ward awaiting surgery. “Let me figure that out,” he promised. “There’s plenty of time to worry about that.” I asked him again just prior to surgery, picturing a frail man returning home, and me, […]
Read MoreA single onion, its papery crisp coating still intact, sits on a small cutting board, signalling intent. Beside it, a sharp-edged knife, and an unopened can of salmon. It is the salmon can that has turned this scenario from an action shot to a still-life. I had planned to have it for dinner last night […]
Read MoreWhile my husband remains in the Cardiac Surgery Recovery Unit (CSRU), I am struggling to maintain some sort of equilibrium so that my own health (ME/CFS) does not worsen. It is a tightrope walk, for sure. The day of surgery, I went to the hospital twice, both for extended periods of time. When I woke […]
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One Woman's Quest II 