Birthday Elegy For Friends and Family: Many thanks for your kind birthday wishes I gather your wishes, gentle gifts that arrive like sunlight warming winter’s silent ground. On this birthday, each word you sent glimmers with kindness that softens edges of sorrow. Anne, my beloved, sits near, her eyes bright though the storm of..
The Cruelty of Daylight-Saving Time For Anne, in the thinning light Daylight saving arrives; they tell us to spring forward, to claim another hour of sun, but I watch the clock betray us, an hour stolen, not earned. Anne, your strength dwindling as the calendar hurries on; the world insists on more light but..
Anne is Real Butter Back in the fabulous fifties and swinging sixties, Canadians were all but commanded to cast aside their beloved butter in favour of margarine – this so-called “modern marvel” that promised thrift, health, and, if you squinted hard enough, a resemblance to butter. But in its original form, margarine looked as appetizing..
Kindred connections: The timeless bond of cousins for Anne and me Cousins hold a truly unique place in our hearts – often the first friends we have in life, they bridge family ties and share in our joys and burdens with a special understanding born of shared history. In times of hardship, like the..
Family caregivers: A cry for help The Canadian government is being petitioned to provide support for family caregivers, for the reasons and according to the terms and conditions outlined below. Being a family caregiver can be a 24/7 job. The task is daunting, sometimes undoable. In addition to providing benefits and compensation, governments..
Attending a Séance, London, Ontario, January 1969 When I was 16 years old in Grade 12 at Oakridge High School in London, Ontario, I first experienced puppy love, with all the attendant tail-wagging and barking. The year was 1969. The object of my baying and howling was a Grade 11 student named Cathy Reed, who..
Nightmare of Letting Go (In response to the Mary Oliver quote below) Shadows will linger where your laughter used to thrive, Night’s edges have begun to sharpen with the ache of impending absence. I will reach for you and grasp only emptiness; Our space, so much colder, will have betrayed my trembling hope. Memories will..
Anne: Laughing Heartily in the Darkness In the marrow of winter, when the world outside is a hush and grief gnaws the bones of night, somehow, laughter bubbles up, raw, defiant, unstoppable. We hold each other, trembling, as if clasping the last ember before the onset of eternal darkness. Your eyes, Anne, flicker with..
Reflections on Christmas Sunday and Christmas Carol Season: A Loss of Innocence From an early age I have been obsessed with the Biblical narrative of the Fall from grace, with its vivid imagery of innocence lost in Eden. From the time that I turned 12 or so, the story has resonated deeply as..
Laughing Through the Shadows Morning breaks, gentle, uncertain, and I reach for laughter—old jokes, tacky songs, borrowed lines, anything to bring the light back to your eyes. Your smile, the way it sparks even now, is worth every battle, every stumble. Coffee spills across the counter, we shimmy in the kitchen, I deliberately croon..