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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…
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Don’t Worry, There’s Plenty of Love in Crete
(Sequel to Can We Go Back to Where We Fell in Love and Fall Again?) Before I travelled to Greece for the first time, I met a Greek-Canadian named Gideon who said something like, “Once you’ve been to Greece, it will haunt you.” He was right. Greece has been calling me back ever since I set foot on the island of Crete in 1978. Finally, this April, I returned to Crete with The Consultant, in anticipation of all we remembered from back then – spontaneous Greek dancing, shop owners beckoning from their doorways, older gents sitting outside a kafenío with their Greek coffee and kombolói beads, rhythmically dispelling their worries.…
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A Valentine for Mom
Mom, it’s only been through taking the writing you left for us, transcribing it and setting photos to it, that I’ve fully grasped the magnitude of your legacy. Your family has learned so many lessons of love from you. I always knew your love was there. When I was young I guess I took it for granted, like kids tend to do. But being a Mom myself, I see it clearly now. We get the best and the worst of our children and no matter how we handle the behaviour, we always forgive. You were the best at it, Mom – loving and forgiving my sisters and me, over and…
