-
A Love Letter to My Daughter
Seven and a half years ago, I wrote a love letter to my daughter. It was part of a high school assignment. The purpose was to involve her family members in her life experience. Participation in her experience meant we’d be touched, too. I wish love letters to teenagers were required writing of all parents. Writing a love letter to Princess put a magnifying glass on my connection to her. It helped us know each other better. That’s what happens when you connect through writing. I decided this would be a good day to revisit my letter to her. Today Princess turns 25. Reading it now, makes me think. We…
-
The Family That Skis Together
Like all families, mine is not always at our best. All it takes is for one of us to show up a little grumpy and we all suffer. It could be due to stress at work, lack of sleep or simply hunger. I’ve learned not to set myself up for disappointment by attaching expectations to big events – just in case. You know how that goes. But, get us in the right setting, doing the right activity, at the right time and we are golden. A couple of weeks ago we experienced one of those times. Attitudes and conditions lined up for the making of a most memorable weekend. It…
-
G-Pa Turns Ninety
There’s a pretty special man in my life turning 90 years young today. When I was calling to invite my father-in-law’s friends to his celebration dinner, they were surprised. Ninety? Already? Yes, it’s hard to believe this young-at-heart grandpa to my kids is hitting this milestone. Buddy and Princess call him “G-Pa.” They’ve grown up close to him mostly due to time together at the family cabin. When they were young, he’d load them and his dog into the aluminum boat and putt along the lakeshore from the cabin to the village so they could play with some of the other kids. Over the years, he’s handed them paper and…
-
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…
-
My Family Defined
I’m so excited about my guest blogger today. Buddy, has written his perspective of our family and I’m more than happy to share – What does it mean to be in our Family? I’ve reflected on the question of what it means to be a member of this family for quite a while and realize that my perception of family has evolved and changed with time. I was probably around 7 when I started to have an abstract understanding of day-to-day family life and family ideals – religious beliefs, political views, socioeconomics, and what motivates my family as a whole. Once I hit my teens, the abstract understanding started…
-
My Two New Loves
Dear Buddy and Princess, Sorry kids, I have two new loves. When you started moving into your “big people” lives, there was plenty of room for a mom to fill and I’ve been determined to fill it with good stuff. I had to dig way back in time to reconnect with that person I was long before I had children and pull out my desire for a right-brain life. It’s in my nature that I’d fill some of that space you left behind with creative pursuits. Writing is an obvious choice for me and I don’t think the time I’ve spent with my journal or laptop has surprised anyone. But,…
-
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.…
-
Mother to a Son
Growing up, I didn’t know boys. My family was made up of girls – my Mom and three sisters. The lone male of the household, Dad, moved out when I was 14. As a young girl, I thought boys were immature and rude. They laughed at things that weren’t funny, like farts and boogers. Boys wrecked stuff. I hated when mothers brought their sons over to our house to play. They pulled off my dolls’ legs and poked pins in their plastic belly buttons. They were violent, running amok, using their fingers as guns, “pow-pow, pow-pow-pow.” They’d keel over dead for a few moments only to jump back to life…
-
Do My Kids Need a Better Life Than Mine?
One evening a while back, I was sitting around with friends after a Calgary Stampeder football game when one of them said, “All we want for our kids is that they have a better life than us, right?” Actually, when I think about my life, I have to wonder whether it is possible for my kids to have a better one. Mine’s been pretty darn good. I’ve always had a roof over my head and never gone hungry. Most importantly, I’ve always felt loved. My sisters and I were fortunate to be born in this time and place. Canadian women experience more equality than most women in the world.…
-
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…
