She’s a clean machine As a devoted caregiver for my wife Anne, I find myself constantly hovering, attentive to her every need – sometimes to an excessive degree. Her battle with terminal brain cancer has left her quite wobbly on her feet, requiring me to be vigilant at all times. Whether it’s guiding her through..
Anne’s New Year Banquet: Spicing Up Fate A Tale of Resilience, Laughter, and Sichuan Peppercorns Back in the swirling mists of early May – when the maple leaves were barely awake and Anne’s neurons were staging an Olympic relay – she awoke from emergency brain surgery with a sense of place that was disconcertingly certain…
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..
Geno Lewis: Scoring a touchdown for compassion My precious wife Anne is stricken with glioblastoma, an incurable form of brain cancer. Kind neighbours have rallied to provide emergency support when she collapses or is otherwise indisposed or de-railed. One such kind soul is Geno Lewis, a star wide receiver for the Ottawa Redblacks, the city’s..
Anne: A Figgy Pudding at Christmastime A Metaphorical Tribute This year more than ever, Anne will be our figgy pudding, the centrepiece of the holiday table: warm, inviting, and filled with the richness that brings friends and family together. Like the pudding’s tapestry of fruits and spices, Anne is a harmony of kindness, wit, and..
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..
Sitting Up Is Hard to Do A Bittersweet Parody* of an Old Pop Song, Produced by Anne’s Courage and Wit Anne, ever the philosopher of the practical, has coined her own anthem: “Sitting up is hard to do.” She murmurs it with the gravitas of a torch song, and it echoes through our home like..
My Cup Runneth Over: A Home Care Vignette* A sticky moment of sadness, laughter, and vitamin E oil It began with hope and a small bottle of vitamin E oil, clutched in the determined hands of our personal support worker. Her voice was resolute as she brashly explained her plan for Anne’s hair, which had..
Every Outing is a Date A Wry Vignette About Anne and Me In high school, I was the ugly duckling. I was the only kid who managed to look both invisible and conspicuous at the same time, sporting a truly unfortunate haircut and acne that seemed to have a personal vendetta against me. Dates, for..
Courage The English version follows the French. Un jour, au début de l’hiver 2022, alors que nous vivions à Dijon, Anne est rentrée des courses et m’a fait part de cette révélation. « As-tu remarqué que personne ne dit « au revoir » en se quittant? Ils disent plutôt « Courage ». Depuis qu’Anne..