Christmas for Anne in Slovakia As you know, many Canadians – and people the world over – celebrate Christmas today, on what we call “Christmas Eve.” https://flamingosschool.com/when-do-people-celebrate-christmas-in-various-countries-around-the-world/ For my wife Anne’s family December 25 was a mere afterthought, a day to recover from the previous day’s festivities. December 24 was THE day. Anne’s..
A Child’s Christmas Carol Confusion Wonder and Bewilderment in Yuletide Lyrics* When I was a small child growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, Christmas carols embodied an enchanting mystery – a flurry of twinkling words and sounds that tumbled through the air as delightfully as snowflakes, yet made about as much sense as trying to build..
A Tale of Two Annes Back in high school about 250 years ago, we studied A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I feel like I’m undergoing a novel experience of a much more intense and baffling sort in my personal life: A Tale of Two Annes. My wife Anne has been stricken..
Wrestling with being a caregiver My two sons are paragons of physical fitness, deservedly, if ordinately, proud of their rippling muscles, attained by countless hours of training and body building. I, on the other hand, have always been a flabby wimp. When I was a boy of about six, back in Georgetown in around 1958,..
Animal Dreams: Animal Therapy and Terminal Cancer When I was a small child, I had the gooiest of soft spots for all animal creatures, fictional or otherwise. Every night before bed, my dad would read me a story featuring the little forest and meadow people of Thornton W. Burgess, including Grandfather Frog, Jimmy Skunk,..
Blackbird: A song of flight from illness and sorrow “Blackbird,” written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, is one of the enduring gems of The Beatles’ 1968 “White Album.” The year my wife Anne, who is succumbing to brain cancer, arrived in Canada. McCartney’s “Blackbird” is an acoustic piece, featuring only his..
Tongue tied: Brain cancer as a stealthy thief A striking characteristic of growing up in southern Ontario, more specifically in Georgetown and London, in the 1950s and 1960s, was exposure to how my father handled the English language, especially idioms and expressions. Clearly Dad mimicked the movie actors and radio talk of his day,..
Weetabix Revisited in the Wake of Brain Cancer Until my wife Anne was suddenly stricken by glioblastoma, the very aggressive, incurable form of brain cancer that befell her a mere six weeks ago, she could not live without her daily hit of Weetabix. Even on Christmas morning, she devoured a delicious bowl of this..
A tale of three cafeterias revisited: London, Ontario; Burnaby, British Columbia; Quebec City, 1965-2000 While reading Orwell’s seminal novel 1984 in university, I was struck by the grungy canteen scene, which prompted recollections of the cafeteria of my high school, Oakridge, in 1960s London, Ontario. George Orwell – 1984 – Part 1, Chapter 5 Now..
Valentines Day Audiobook Book Launch: Attach your antlers and have a listen La description française suit la description anglaise. I’m excited to announce that the English version of my audiobook is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books, meaning listeners can purchase it outright, use an Audible credit, or get a discount if they own..