Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Her name was Mary, the one that they say shot herself. Although I never knew her, it is a stretch to believe a woman would kill herself this way. Far too messy. “What was she like?” I asked my mother once. “Timid. Not a particularly happy woman.” She had been married to my mother’s second […]
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Summer bursts with activities and plans, and I am already wondering at the folly of trying to move in the midst of it all. I put out a group text yesterday to solicit help from our kids, and the response was as expected: We are away that weekend. Can we help with the pre-move prep? […]
Read MoreDon’t Hold Your Breath’s byline is “tripping the world, slowly”. The author, I.J. Khanewala, documents travels through images and delightful commentary. I have begun to look forward to these snippets from other worldly places. In a recent post: “Flowers of the Middle Heights” The Young Niece asks why a certain flower has five petals. Khanewala, […]
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“I’m too old to change!” Father snapped at me when I suggested that some of the stress Mother was suffering might have to do with his behaviour. “Look in the mirror, Dad. If you see a reflection, it is not too late to change.” It was a line I borrowed from Alan Cohen, an author […]
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A plant is something that sits on a sill, grows with attention stays quite still. But plant can be a verb ask any farmer you know whose spring is consumed with making things grow. And what about things that unexpectedly appear are they haphazard, or intentionally placed here? (Thanks to tourmalinenow.com for the One Word […]
Read MoreI can remember the exact moment that the words jumped off the page and hit me between the eyes with such an impact, my head snapped back. I was still married to my ex-husband, and had retired to the bedroom to read before sleep. The children were all finally asleep, and I had started the […]
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Relationship, I realized after posting my weekly challenge, is too broad of a subject. We need a lifetime to examine and appreciate our interconnections, and then, likely, we’d need to begin again – such is the nature of relationship. It slips and slides, rewards and betrays, teaches and takes away. That said, I appreciate those […]
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I am the one who put forth the relationship challenge this week, and I have to confess, I am struggling with how to articulate my feelings. Fast approaching my sixtieth birthday, I find I am sentimental, or maybe, it’s that after years of isolation due to illness, I now treasure relationship more than ever. […]
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North of Toronto, Canada, there is an area of lakes known as Muskoka. Having traveled extensively over the winter, and marvelled at many new and exotic landscapes, we return to the places of our youth with a new appreciation and respect for what we have here at home. Muskoka and the Haliburtons are vacation destinations, […]
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On the road, everyday is defined by a sense of adventure and discovery – an attitude I feared I’d lose on returning home. In truth, these past six weeks of settling back in have focused on family and friends and doctors visits. All good, and yet, already, I notice that carving time for writing is […]
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