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Making BIG Memories
Oh, how I wish I’d followed through on plans for this one dream – to take a big trip with Mom – just the two of us. Over the years, we took a few little ones here and there but I wanted something adventurous with special bonding time. We’d even talked about what that trip would be – a Caribbean cruise. Time went by. Life got in the way. We never made it happen. Since I became a mom, I’ve carried that regret with me. Now I’ve waited long enough. My kids are starting their adult lives and I’m carrying the dream forward. Over the next few years, one of…
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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…
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What I Knew One Day in July 1990
The moment I saw my baby’s face, I believed in love at first sight. My eldest niece and one of my nephews are about to become parents for the first time. Thinking about how their lives are about to change, makes me revisit that time in my own life. Becoming a new mom was my most challenging transition. Here’s what was going on for me back then. In July 1990, I was the happily married young mother of a one-year old son. While pregnant I had a romanticized vision of myself balancing home and career – just like the superwomen who had carved the path before me. However, once my…
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Simply Do the Right Thing
Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right. – Martin Luther King, Jr. “Just, do the right thing.” Lately, I hear myself saying this more and more often: really, how hard can it be? In truth, it can be very hard and that’s the problem. Sometimes the right thing seems so hard that we…
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Return to Dance
I’d just added finishing touches to the Chicken Cacciatore dish I was creating. There was a cross-breeze through the open kitchen / living area of the cabin, so the heady aroma of tomato and fresh basil filled the room and wafted out the windows. As the classic Bill Withers oldie Just the Two of Us came up on my playlist, the hungry and tired Consultant came through the door. “It smells great in here!” He grabbed my hand; we smiled directly into each other’s faces and started to dance. I took the lead and twirled him before he could twirl me. When we stopped before the music ended, we laughed. Nothing…
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Lessons From the Chick That Flew Coop
I am thrilled to have my daughter, Princess, guest posting on my blog today. She has written from Koh Samui, Thailand. This letter is a keeper. Dear Mom, Dad (AKA The Consultant) and Buddy, Thank you. Without all of your travel stories, shared experiences and encouragement I would have never been inspired to take this journey. As of April 1, 2014 I have been gone for seven months and I’m terribly homesick – the homesickness kicked in on about month three – but that is beside the point. You convinced me at a young age, that traveling, in some capacity, should be on every young person’s priority list. Hearing…
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Sisters by Choice
I belong to a special little group called The Heart Writers, my honorary sisters. We are connected through journal writing and the belief that writing has power – the transformative power of clarity, direction and connection to self. It’s that same power that brought us together in June of 2011. In our individual homes we are mothers, wives, partners, sisters and friends. In community, we are four very different women who write and share. We’ve created an environment where it is safe to be vulnerable, open and honest. Now we know each other like no other. Where one of us leaves off, another takes up. We all benefit. We met…
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Princess Takes Flight
“I am going to travel the world!” – Princess. In a few short weeks, Princess starts living her dream. She has been talking up this idea of world travel since before graduating high school. The only thing standing in her way, the last four years, has been her post- secondary education. I think she is doing it right. Earn the degree, and the world is her oyster. Throughout the last four years, she’s had another story running in the background. It is one of a competitive lifesaving swimmer. She has trained. Hard. Last June she achieved her goal and she was chosen for Canada’s Commonwealth Team. Uncertainties about travel plans…
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My First Lesson in Parenting
I don’t remember where we were headed or why we were on the highway. I only remember waking up in the backseat of the car to overhear my dad sharing his philosophy of parenting with a lady in the passenger seat. She was visiting from Samoa and was interested in learning about the ways of our culture. He told her that when he was growing up the answer to all his requests was “no.” And when he questioned that answer “because I said so” was added. That didn’t give a kid much to go on and he often wandered off scratching his head not really understanding the “why” behind the…
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Opposites Still Attract
And they said it would never last. My husband and I just celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. Whoever said, “opposites attract” wasn’t kidding. My husband, The Consultant and I are the north and south poles. He is hot mustard, I am ketchup, he is Led Zeppelin, I am Bette Midler, he is a Jeep, I am a Honda. He sees the world in black and white and I see every colour of the rainbow. I am creative expression while he is depth and contrast. We are the Canadian Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed. Upon meeting The Consultant, our acquaintances are surprised by our opposing personalities. “What is a nice girl…
