Loving the humble dandelion (Part Two) If you have time and feel like it, please check out the heartfelt praise of dandelions that two dandelion enthusiasts have added in the comments section of my May 26 post on Facebook comparing my late wife Anne to a dandelion. Their dandelion stories are fascinating and very well..
Anne, Patron Saint of Dandelions You loved the small gold uprisings in the grass, those bright, stubborn lanterns everyone else called weeds. You saw a kingdom where others saw invasion, a thousand yellow crowns lifting through the ordinary. And you were like them, Anne – radiant, doughty, unafraid to bloom in hard places, to..
Miles for Millions and the Brain Tumour Walk In 1968, when I was in Grade 12 at Oakridge High School in London, Ontario, there was a special event that attracted many friends and classmates, namely Miles for Millions, a popular charity walkathon designed to raise funds for international development and combat poverty and hunger in..
If music be the food of love, play on… Many readers have asked for the list of music that Anne chose for her celebration of life held last Saturday. Below is a list that she wanted to share with those of us on this side of eternity, preceded by a little poem that I wrote..
Celebration in Honour of the Life of Anne Schlenker McBryde (May 16, 2026) “I love you all the time/ And I’ll love you forever.” On April 30 of last year, when Anne and I celebrated our 46th anniversary of conjugal life by feasting on Ottawa’s finest Chinese food, Anne was herself: healthy, feisty, full of..
Ne me quitte pas/ If You Go Away As a Christmas present in 2002, our daughter-in-law Marie-Eve bought us tickets for a concert in honour of the magnificent French singer-song writer Jacques Brel, held in Quebec City. Anne and I were particularly moved by the cover version of “Ne me quitte pas.” It stayed with..
We scattered Anne’s ashes, but she’s alive in the air we breathe We opened your urn to the wind, and thought we were letting you go as your ashes dispersed, But morning keeps finding your voice in the thrum of the rain, in the garden’s newly green insistence, in the patience you taught us to..
Mother’s Day for Moonie A poem dedicated to our sons Daniel and David and to their mom whom they called Moonie Today the world sells roses and bright paper, but our hands are learning a different kind of holding. Anne is not in the kitchen, not in the park, yet she is everywhere you..
The Celebration in Honour of Anne’s Life La version française de ce court texte suit la version anglaise. “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that..
Obituary for Anne Schlenker (McBryde) 1958-2026 “I love you all the time and I’ll love you forever.” Anne’s last words to her family before her emergency brain surgery, May 12, 2025. It is with profound sadness that we wish to announce the death of Anne Schlenker (McBryde). Anne passed away in the early morning hours..