A 6:15 a.m. phone call changed my life: “Hello Grandma…it’s a girl!” There is no describing the thrill. I packed a hasty bag and drove the hundred kilometres in record time, scooping up that little bundle immediately on arrival. Her little tongue moved in and out rapidly as her gazed fixed on mine. I could […]
Children grow up, establish new lives, and if we’re really lucky they bring home new members to add to the family. I have been doubly blessed with the addition of a son and a daughter-in-law. I can’t say enough about them, and I’m sure they’d kill me for posting their photographs, but it’s my blog […]
Marrying for the third time entailed blending families – not always an easy task. I had three; he had two – bookends to mine. Falling in love is one thing, but the chances that all parties will be enthused about the idea is another. Ric’s oldest, a son, was already an adult when we met, […]
I first married at nineteen, two years after I left home, and many years before I’d developed into the woman I would later be. We separated before our second wedding anniversary. Certain I was fatally flawed, I jumped at the next opportunity that came along – a relationship that would produce my three children and […]
Recent upheaval has plummeted me into a dark space, where I am not willing to settle. Depression has followed me throughout life, and while I acknowledge it has a place, I am not willing to let it drive. I learned long ago that the only way for me to counter the clouds is to be […]
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. Â 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. […]
Illness is not solely suffering; it is also much like the Hangman of Tarot – a forced change of perspective. Â There is a certain smugness that accompanies health: Â an attitude, reckless really, that says “I’ve got it all together. Â Look at me.” Those of us, having fallen from health, recognize the fallacy. Â Life is uncertainty. […]
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 […]
Saw 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 […]