• Family Legacy

    Christmas, With Love

    Christmas is coming quickly and we are wracking our brains for those perfect gift ideas. In Canada, we have so much. Add our tough economy this year and we’re asking, “What do we buy for someone who has everything they need, within a smaller budget?” I know of an inexpensive, yet valuable gift idea for all those difficult-to-buy-for people on your list – the love letter.   A love letter is a true gift of the heart. Gifts of the heart are often creative and well received. You feel good knowing you are giving the greatest gift of all, a piece of yourself, expressed in your handwriting. The receiver feels…

  • Empty Nest

    Can We Go Back to Where We Fell in Love and Fall Again?

    Travel back to 1978 with me, and you’ll see us on the isle of Crete looking like a couple of characters from the flashbacks in Mamma Mia. The Consultant and I had been dating for eighteen months and we’d already extended our agreement. The agreement was to go our separate ways if we reached the one-year mark. We thought it was sensible since we were so young and neither of us had been looking for a partner when we met. It was reasonable to think, at 17 and 19; we needed to keep our worlds open to other personalities and experiences. But when the anniversary arrived, we were enjoying life. We…

  • Empty Nest

    Full in Slave Lake

      My situation never seems quite right. When I’m in Slave Lake, I miss Buddy and Princess. When I’m in Calgary, I miss The Consultant. Whenever I start feeling the “empty” in empty nest, it usually takes a trip to Calgary to visit with my kids, family and friends in order to make it all better. I drive to the city, fill myself up then take all that fullness back to Slave Lake, where I dump myself out through my writing. Living this lifestyle is an adjustment, for sure. Sometimes I get so caught up in my own feelings that I forget it’s not all about me. The Consultant’s nest…