It’s All Perspective, Really

March 31, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

The year my father turned 75, I decided to gift him with a letter of gratitude. We’d had a difficult go, and while I sometimes hated him, I always loved him, and I wasn’t sure I’d expressed the latter enough. I acknowledged his personal struggles, and apologized for any heartache I’d caused him, choosing to […]

Roads

March 30, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

This life, a road –the way prepared for me,signs to guide my way,and yet, I get lost. Construction, distraction,disobedience – throw me off,I’ve chosen tougher routes,broken down and been sidelined. And yet, the road still beckons,invites progression, thrills.A rolling stone gathers no moss,my father liked to say, and so… I push ahead, keep motoring,trust the […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #41: polish

March 25, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

As I’m contemplating this week’s challenge, American Idol is playing in the background, and my attention is captured by a young woman explaining that a year ago she went blind. She talks about the hardship of not only losing her sight, but the torment she received at the hands of her peers. My eyes cloud […]

To All Aspiring Dads

March 24, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

” I’m worried about my generation, Mom. There are so few male role models to set an example, how are we supposed to know how to live our lives?” My son was fifteen when he shared this concern with me. Having watched his own father turn his back during our divorce, and witnessing the same […]

The Father I Miss

March 23, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Father abhorred laziness. “The idle mind is the Devil’s playground!” he’d say. Or: “What are you trying to do; win the horizontal championship?” Well, I’m the horizontal champion now, thanks to illness. Wonder what he’d say about that? Still, I’m not lazy. To my face he was hardcore, unless he was soppy drunk, then the […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #40: Things My Father Said*

March 18, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

(* or any male of influence growing up.) I can’t count the number of times my father’s words hover over me, even though he’s been gone since 2005. He was the king of platitudes – constantly quoting (and making us recite) the works of Dale Carnegie, or Norman Vincent Peale. “Mind over matter,” he’d say […]

So Many Questions

March 17, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Questions are piling up over here, with very few answers. Isn’t that life? And maybe that is the point: we are meant to reflect, to ponder, to search, to explore. As a teacher, the emphasis was on inquisition: teaching children to think beyond the obvious, find the tools to research deeper. In this ever-increasing digital […]

If I Knew; I’d Change It

March 15, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m struggling with myself. It isn’t the first time, and I’m certain it won’t be the last. There is no definable reason, and yet my emotional self tries to find blame: it’s Ric’s behaviour; it’s because I’m homesick; it’s my illness. Rationally, I recognize that my life is full of blessings right now, and this […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #39: Unanswerable

March 11, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“I always start with questions that I can’t answer. Otherwise you get bored halfway through if you already know the answers. If you’re asking what seem to be unanswerable questions, then you have to keep showing up.” – Barbara KingsolverFrom A Talk in the Woods, by Kevin LarimerFeatured in Poets & Writers, November/ December 2018 […]

What Is In a Name?

March 10, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

A touch of history, a personal insight, a vision – all of these form the basis for how we have chosen to name our blogs. Reading the back stories has made this one of my favourite challenges. Each of us has put thought and care into finding names, an act that speaks of our dedication […]