Losing My Marbles 1957, Chapel Street Public School, Georgetown, Ontario, kindergarten with Mrs. Smith. If you misbehaved, “behind the piano” was your place of penance. We kids lived for recess, when we could “play marbles,” or allies, as we also called them. (Mrs., Smith was neither a big fan of marbles nor of the word..
A Hole in my Heart In the small town of my childhood, the 1950s spoke in lowered voices: electrocution, harelip, stillbirth, a baby born with a hole in her heart. My parents carried these sorrows home as if misfortune were weather, settling over porches, kitchens, beds. I was but a fragile nestling, but already knew..
The Annual Brain Tumour Walk: Ottawa, Ontario, June 6, 2026 Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to walk in solidarity with the brain tumour community as part of the annual Brain Tumour Walk organized by the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. #BrainTumourWalk @BrainTumourFDN It was so important to be among survivors, caregivers, supporters, impacted..
A worthy goal: Brendan Gallagher and family fundraising for brain cancer research A mini controversy has been brewing in Montreal concerning – what else? – hockey, more specifically the recent elimination of Les Canadiens. A fan favourite, the 14-year veteran Brendan Gallagher, was a “healthy scratch” (which sounds like an oxymoron from the..
Take this waltz: It’s yours now. It’s all that there is. The vast majority of survivors of a dearly departed spouse are afflicted by certain regrets. One regret that gnaws at my soul as I lie sleepless at night is that I never took Anne dancing. Why? I was the world’s worst, most embarrassing..
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..
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..
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..