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And the years speed by
When I started writing this blog almost three years ago, people objected to its original name. And I was more than willing to be told I wasn’t middle-aged yet. But is it time to admit that it might be here now? I’m a communicator by profession; a degree in journalism, followed by a 25+ year career in public relations and communications. As a young greenhorn, that meant interviewing supervisors, managers and even site directors. These were men – and yes, back then they were pretty much all men – much older than me. A few years later, when I accompanied… Read more…
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Boys, boys, boys!
I think my neighbours may be whispering about me behind my back. It’s a bit scandalous. Last week, a man and his two sons moved into my house…. My own boys are off to their university lives. The younger is safely ensconced in his university dorm, making new friends and grabbing life by the tail, experiencing the joy being on his own for the first time. The older has moved into a new apartment with old friends, probably feeling like he’s back home as he enters his third year of post-secondary education. So this fall was going to be a… Read more…
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What might have been…
Do you ever wonder what might have been? If you’d turned left instead of right? If you’d chosen this instead of that? If you’d said yes instead of no? Would your life have turned out very differently? Or would you have eventually ended up in the same place, by a different route? One of my favourite movies is Sliding Doors. Quite apart from the fact that I could listen to John Hannah’s Scottish brogue for hours, I am forever intrigued by the two parallel lives shown in the film. It shows two versions of the main character’s life – one as… Read more…
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Sweet memories of love
Valentine’s Day can be a bit morose for a single woman. And I’m not ashamed to say I’ve drowned my sorrows in chocolate and red wine more than once. But this year I’ve decided to take an optimist’s view of love. Love comes in so many shapes and forms that it seems foolish to concentrate on only one kind. I have loved and have been well-loved in my life and it has been good. I’ve regretted none of it. A parent’s love is the first we experience. It’s a love we are so sure of that we push and we… Read more…
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Searching for direction
There’s a lovely little inukshuk that sits on my desk at home. It’s not really meant to be there – it was bought as a gift for a friend who I didn’t connect with this past summer. I look at it sometimes, searching for direction. Maybe because it wasn’t for me, it’s not giving me any answers. Inukshuks are a quintessentially Canadian stone figures, although they can be found throughout circumpolar countries. Used by Canada’s native Inuit people, they are monuments of raw stones that traditionally show that someone had been there – or that you’re on the right path.… Read more…
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Recapturing Christmas
It gets harder every year. With every season that passes, life gets busier. There’s more to do, more to deal with, more chores that need to be done, more activities that kids need to be shuttled to and from, more stress at work. It gets harder every year. Gifts and gadgets on Christmas wish lists are more techy and more expensive. With family becoming more spread out, it’s harder to stay close and to know what is the right present for the right person. Commercial Christmas songs ring out and decorations appear in the stores earlier and earlier, starting the… Read more…
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Random thoughts from a self-enforced moment of quiet
Are you strapped in? This week begins the “OMG, it’s less than a month before Christmas” panic that seems to afflict people – and especially mothers – throughout the land. The perfect joyous season our friendly advertisers bring us also results in a lot of stress and anxiety. There’s so much to do, so many places to be and so many events to attend that it can all feel a little overwhelming. This year, it seems particularly stressful. December is a whirlwind of Christmas concerts – between my daughter and I, our performances number close to 10 over three weekends.…
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Looking back – way back – at a big adventure
It seems impossible to believe that it is 30 years ago to the week that I started a grand adventure. A scared 18 year old, I boarded a plane on my own, first to Frankfurt and then on to Istanbul, Turkey. I was headed off on a year-long Rotary Youth Exchange Program, preparing to live with another family and go to high school in a country I had only learned the location of some six months earlier. Nervous “Inbounds” in Istanbul: Sept. 1985 The process of being selected to be an exchange student was arduous. The application forms, multiple rounds of… Read more…
