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Three little words: Ruminating on June’s Pride Week
Three little words. Three little words have the power to change lives. Almost thirty years ago, three little words changed two lives as “I love you” was spoken and a life together was born. Fast forward fifteen years and three children later and three different words changed five lives forever. It’s the leadup to the annual Pride Parade in Toronto, and just like past years, I approach this time with a real mix of feelings. During this time each year, we read stories from around the world in the papers and heard others on TV about men (and women) who come… Read more…
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Musings on memories
Memories are funny things. Some are so vivid it’s like they happened just yesterday. Others tease and tantalize you with barely-there wisps of something so close that you can almost grasp them – but that scatter when you try. I love looking through old photo albums. I am sure that memories are heightened – or even formed by photographs. I am sure that some of my childhood memories are only be “remembered” through family retelling plus a photo I’ve seen hundreds of times. Memories can be made sweeter – or more bitter – with the passage of time. For me,…
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A nuclear family of a different sort
I work for a great company, and support a team in a great industry. It’s a controversial one in many ways and that has led to a tight communications community. But its challenges have been upstaged in recent weeks by a national political controversy in Ottawa that has dragged my company’s name through the mud. I don’t want to get into the whys and wherefores of it all, but suffice it to be said that it has been a long and stressful few weeks for this company communicator. Fortunately, I work with a great team, who have all pitched in… Read more…
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Unravelling the sweater
Unraveling of colourful knitted garment Knitters among us know that you can spend a long time knitting, purling, slipping stitches over and dropping them to create beautiful patterns in knitwear. Big chunky wool for a winter sweater, nubbed cotton for a shawl to throw over your shoulders in the summer or fine, soft yarn for a baby’s layette, it’s all wonderful to work with. To be honest with you, it’ s been a long time since I’ve tackled a knitting project as big as a full sweater. For the past few winters, scarves, mittens and toques have been all I’ve… Read more…
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Three for three – the last one spreads her wings
Cup of steaming tea in hand, I glanced in her bedroom this morning and for the first time since June, I saw her sound asleep, with her hair streaming behind her on her pillow and her long lithe legs sticking out from the covers, while the cool breeze moved the blinds on her windows. Fall is coming and I have my daughter home for two nights before she starts her new university life half way across the country.The sight made me smile, but it also made my breath catch in my throat. I’ve written about Son number one and Son number two going off… Read more…
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And the last one starts to leave…
Friday was my daughter’s senior prom. She looked so grown up in her simple, yet elegant floor-length black dress, with hair piled atop her head. Like her friends, she traded in her sneakers for the the highest heels imaginable, as they attended the formal event. It was a strange combination of pride and sadness I felt, watching these almost unrecognizable young women go off together. Earlier this month, she had her final choral performance with an amazing group she’s sung with for the past ten years. She’s landed a summer job away from home and exams are right around the… Read more…
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Muscle memory
It’s what happens when you strap on the water skis after years of letting them gather dust in the boat house. It’s how you always remember how ride a bike. It’s what Olympic athletes rely on to nail performances and win races. And it’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when muscle memory took over and I started singing the alto part in an anthem I knew well, instead of the soprano part I’d just learned. Muscle memory. Through repetition, our muscles can be trained to encode, retain and repeat movements and eventually make those movements without… Read more…
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Is it a habit, or something more?
My middle child is stubborn. Really stubborn. When he was young, I wanted to throttle him regularly. I often joked that one of us would not make it to his adulthood. As he got a bit older, I started to see this stubbornness as a positive sign. He had a “stick-to-it” quality that would surely serve him well. That mental strength was key to his success last summer as a tree planter – and why he’s going back again this summer. I was slightly horrified to hear from my other two kids that they figured he’d inherited this quality from… Read more…
