• Family Legacy

    Connection and Commitment

      Yesterday, the Consultant and I had a nice connection over our son’s upcoming wedding. We were sitting out in the sun, on the cabin deck, enjoying a glass of wine and working on our speech. The Consultant said he’d like to share some secrets of a lasting relationship with the bride and groom because, of course, we have our track record of longevity. Surely we have many words of wisdom for the young couple. Funny thing is, we think Buddy and Girlfriend have this relationship thing all figured out. They’ve been together over ten years. I remember fairly early in their relationship, Girlfriend came to me a little upset.…

  • Empty Nest,  Family Legacy

    Back to My Accidental Dream Home

    In a few days, season three of our temporary life in Slave Lake will come to an end and we’ll be heading south – home to the starter house we bought 30 years ago. It’s nothing fancy. My 1,050 square foot, ‘50s bungalow was never meant to be my dream home. We bought it because it was affordable and in a good neighbourhood. It was always our intention to pay this house off quickly, keep it as an income property and move on up. But, priorities changed when two kids came along. Neither The Consultant nor I had anticipated the emotional impact starting a family would have on us. Our…

  • 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,  Family Legacy,  Temporary Life/Travel

    This is It!

    Winter 2011 There I was sitting at my administrative desk job on the edge of downtown Calgary; my husband working in Fort McMurray, 21 year-old son at university down in Florida, and a 19 year-old daughter in second year at Mount Royal University, and I was asking myself , “Is this the way life is supposed to be?” This right-brained girl, living a left-brained life, started to squirm in her chair. Life was feeling out of whack. Acknowledging the thought started the flow of nervous excitement and anxiousness that I recognized to mean only one thing…. change was imminent! I was craving adventure – something more. I realized I would…