We’re beginning to understand the sudden ‘grief attacks’ that hit mourners A few years ago, psychologist Sherman Lee experienced a “grief attack”. When he set out to study them, he discovered just how powerful and all-consuming grief can be. Grief profoundly affects the body and mind. Once, while driving his car, Sherman Lee started sobbing..
Taking the bullies by the horns I had been mercilessly bullied in grade school and early high school, for being overweight and having what was deemed a ludicrous brush cut. But when Grade 10 rolled around, the usual suspects didn’t need me as a quarry for their bloodlust since an embarrassment of riches was..
Unsafe at any speed revisited I’m a horrible driver; I’ve always been a horrible driver. This deficiency is in my DNA: behind the proverbial wheel, my father was unsafe at any speed and my mother was beyond a shadow of a doubt the worst driver in history. (Various friends and relatives wanted to sue the..
Escaping the rough by choosing the right club In 1964, when I was 12 years old, our family moved from Georgetown to London Ontario. This permanent change of scene came as a devastating blow, complete with the typical leaving behind of school and friends, entailing the requisite adjustment to a new, bigger city culture. In..
Ephemeral Mist: We Exist Then Disappear Haiga is a Japanese concept describing a refined visual art of combining brush painting, Haiku (or sometimes Tanka, as here), and calligraphy. A traditional Haiga requires all three of these elements. Like the poetic form it accompanies, Haiga is based on simple, yet often what one hopes are profound,..
Winning the brownie For Lindsey Reed When I was a child growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, I loved playing little league baseball. The American side of my family was made up of baseball fanatics, including a second cousin who was a renowned semi-pro. I was a pudgy wanna-be star. My goal throughout my six-year..
New Canadian class: Canada Day 2026 On August 21,1968, my late wife Anne’s country was invaded by the Soviet Union. The invasion of Czechoslovakia took place the day before Anne’s 10th birthday. The Soviet Union was intent on putting an end to what is known as the Prague Spring, a period of reform in Czechoslovakia..
Riding the Insomnia Express I have suffered from insomnia since the age of about four years old, when the minister of our local United Church convinced me that all my cursing and swearing would lead me straight to hell, where unimaginable torment awaited. Going To Hell – Robert McBryde I am now a wretched,..
Upon Being Banished from the Palliative Care Ward, April 15, 2026 Anne sits alone in her erstwhile chamber where sunlight no longer spills. Silent, ineffable words lost somewhere in the hush of her transfigured mind, yet nothing escapes her notice. She counts each kindness of nurses, counsellors, personal caregivers, by its weight, the shape..
Terms of Endearment: St. Vincent’s Hospital, palliative care wing, March 18, 2026 Because Anne’s brain tumour has caused ongoing incontinence that impacts both her comfort and dignity, a catheter insertion became a necessary step in managing her care. Understanding how frightened she was of the procedure – her trembling, whimpers, and tears revealing the depth..