Vacancy

May 15, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

It’s been a year since my mother’s death and this past weekend we held a memorial. It coincided with Mother’s Day, which packed an extra punch. The grief that follows loss is seldom simple. Yes, I miss my mom. Yes, I am relieved that she has found an end to her suffering. There is also […]

Ancestral

April 24, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

“You never express your feelings, Mom. Everything gets swept under the rug.” This from my middle daughter, who raged at me recently for never being available to help, She has an expectation that Grandparents should be always on call. “And why did you choose to live so far away!” It’s 45 minutes by car, and […]

Magical Beings

December 15, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

There is nothing more magical than a baby, who is able to capture the wonder of all. Magical is the prompt for Lens-Artists photo challenge this week.

Priceless

August 25, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A baby brings so many things into perspective, especially the importance of love and connection. For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: MasterCard: There are some things money can’t buy.

Familial Snags

August 9, 2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Days before she turned 65, Mom confessed that she suspected she had cancer. “I’m thinking about just letting it take me,” she said. There were many things I wanted to say in that moment, such as: You should be discussing this with a therapist and not your daughter, but; this was the nature of our […]

Looking For Silver Linings

August 9, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Note: I’ve written before about how my older brothers were kidnapped by their father as kids. My mom and her new husband (my father) had won custody, but as my oldest sister was hospitalized, they were unable to go after them or hire a private investigator. Eventually, the oldest brother returned to us on his […]

One

July 3, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A birthday celebration was the highlight of our weekend. One-year-old Tima could not believe we would leave her alone with a cake that size, lol. She also could not fathom why so many people crowded around to watch. A swim afterwards with her Dad brought her around to her old self.

Curly

April 30, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

My newest granddaughter has a shock of curls on top of her head and it reminds me of me when I was a baby. Of course, I needed proof, so yesterday, while visiting my mom, I went through old photo albums, and found this photo of my dad feeding me.Apparently, history does repeat itself. Have […]

Arrival!

August 26, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

“Coming to Canada is like landing on an alien planet,” my friend Svetlana tells me. She arrived a month or so ago, and even with her perfect command of the English language, she struggles to make sense of our way of life. “The bus system, is going to drive me crazy,” she adds. Svetlana and […]

A Home of Their Own

June 22, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Five weeks ago, a family of five arrived on our doorstep, distraught and teary-eyed after having fled the war in Ukraine. The dad started working the next day, and the rest of us sorted out beds, groceries and necessary paperwork. Within a week, the kids started school and Mom applied for jobs. It didn’t take […]

Relationship Shuffle

Yearning for renewalwe wrestle dragons –unsuspected passages,like time machinesscattering ticket stubs We distractseek nourishmentpercolate meaning Nostalgic nuancessuccumb tojagged memories –Cubism in motion. (Art mine)

Spring’s Antics (tanka)

Oh that Spring gale,she’s such a storyteller –awakens the landfiddles with expectations –Welcome post-Winter trickster. (Image my own)

Discourse on Love

Gathered up all the loveI’d previously rejectedpulled it to melike a well-worn cloakImagined the comfortsuch a vibration would bringoblivion amounting to bliss But love –my interpretation of it –does not nullify painAnd I writhed in its intensitypain physically ingrainedburdened by memories How can this be? I criedIn darkness I turned to loveprojected nirvanauncovered such an […]