The Gift of Friendship

April 16, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Pippy has driven down from Campbell River with her girlfriend, Sandy and her dog, Sam. We decide to leave the men to bond while we women go out for lunch and some catch up time. I take them to Gabriel’s Gourmet Cafe, where Ric and I ate on our first day here. It is busy […]

Illness and Isolation

March 23, 2017.Reading time 3 minutes.

Prolonged illness almost always equates to isolation. Initially, kindness reveals itself through visits from friends and coworkers, meals dropped off, and many offers to help in any way. Not yet adjusted to my rapidly changing situation, I was overwhelmed and somewhat embarrassed by such an outpouring, having always considered myself strong and independent. Perhaps, I […]

A Bad Day

November 5, 2016.Reading time 1 minute.

ME/CFS is a mean mistress, whose sole purpose is to keep me down. She is a dominatrix thriving on my submission, wielding her whip with heartlessness, and when she tires of the lashes – has me wincing in pain – she tosses the whip in my direction, tauntingly daring me to defend myself, knowing full well that […]

Hawk Inspired

March 10, 2016.Reading time 13 minutes.

(A short story; fiction.) The grey days are the hardest; you know the ones, when the clouds, so full of tears, are working themselves up to a full-blown cry. My projection, I know, but I prefer to think that the weather mirrors my own inner gloom. I am less alone that way. This winter has […]