A Little Help from our Friends In the fall of 1979, as the new school year was about to begin, I found myself in exile, shunted to a crowded, windowless office space in a remote corner of our tiny college, Champlain St. Lawrence CEGEP in Quebec City. As a young, part-time English instructor, I didn’t..
Lights out in 1979 “This level of exhaustion deserves its own genre of music.” Looking back on my 46-year relationship with my wife Anne, I can’t help but express certain profound regrets and proffer belated apologies. I’m so sorry that my nocturnal proclivities cost Anne so much sleep back in 1979… a situation..
Plumbing the depths during palliative care: the Irish Plumber to the rescue in our adapted home Yesterday our toilet blocked. This was not surprising given that we are actually using two different amenities during this palliative homecare period: our regular toilet and a commode, a sort of porta potty throne, which Anne uses in..
Anne as an indomitable decorator: A feisty artist whom brain cancer can impede but never defeat Everybody who knows Anne knows that she’s a decorator; she calls herself the “Decorating Turkey.” Our sons have dubbed her “couth”; even the house in which we raised our rowdy boys in suburban Quebec City was “couth” and..
Tartar without the sauce: Dental adventures in Canada and abroad/Le tartre sans la sauce : aventures dentaires au Canada et à l’étranger For Anne/ Pour Anne When I was about five years old, growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, a first visit to the dentist yielded the most perplexing diagnosis: I was afflicted with tyrannical tartar…
Fête nationale française : Vive la Révolution ! Retour sur la prise de notre Bastille en 2023… et aujourd’hui Bastille Day: Vive la Révolution! Looking back on the storming of our Bastille in 2023…and today The English version of this short sketch immediately follows the French Chaque 14 juillet, les Français célèbrent la fête..
Becoming Jean Chrétien 1982-2025/ Devenir Jean Chrétien 1982-2025 La version française de ce récit suit immédiatement la version anglaise. One very early morning of November 1982 in Quebec City, I was awakened by the screams of our eight-month old baby, who called for his parents’ attention every couple of hours with the howls of a..
Anne et Passe-Partout… Avec Mr. Dress Up et The Friendly Giant/ Anne and Passe- Partout…With Mr. Dress Up and the Friendly Giant The English version of this little story immediately follows the French. Comme beaucoup d’autres enfants au Québec dans les années 1980 et 1990, nos deux fils ont grandi en écoutant Passe-Partout, une..
Woodland magic in the iconic Des Compagnons Forest of Quebec City, Quebec We raised our two sons in Quebec City, more precisely in a neighbourhood known as La Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy, which was carved out of an old-growth forest, the remnant of which has remained intact behind the local high school, Le Collège des Compagnons. ..
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..