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Luck, lemonade and a bit of siding
There but for the grace of God go I. Those words echoed through my mind all afternoon a few Saturdays ago, as I took part in a Habitat for Humanity build project.It was a good day. My colleagues and friends had stepped up to help me meet – and exceed – my fundraising goals and I spent the day exercising my construction muscles by putting siding on a house that would eventually become the home of an underprivileged family. It felt good to be doing something purposeful and constructive, and to be giving back. We had stopped for lunch, and former recipients… Read more…
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And now for a commercial break: a little personal PR
Don’t change the channel; this commercial break is a good one! You know that little frisson – that thrill – of excitement you get when something goes well? The kind where you feel just a little invincible?It’s been a good month. Why? Nothing huge – just a bunch of little things, but ones that add up to more than the sum of their parts. And it has me feeling pretty positive about life. Early this month, son #1 was moved back to Ottawa for school. It went smoothly. He’s living in an apartment with friends this year it was only a few days… Read more…
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Your children are not your children
A few weeks ago, my daughter’s choir hosted a treble training festival for several other children’s choirs in southern Ontario. They’re always great events, when these well-trained choristers come together, work with a guest conductor and finally, hold a joint concert where they raise their voices in song and raise the rafters of whatever church has been borrowed for the occasion. The kids work hard during that day, as evidenced by the 87 pizzas we the 150+ choristers put back for dinner! But that’s not the point of this story. I like to sit quietly in the back while the (mostly)… Read more…
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Finding role models in a sea of scandal
As the latest inevitable next news story about Toronto’s beleaguered mayor, Rob Ford plays out, I wonder what kind of role models today’s youth have to look up to. Television, radio, newspapers and the internet provide an endless stream of coverage of disgraced politicians, athletes and businesspeople. Poor decision-making, judgement lapses and bad choices almost seem to be de rigueur. Wars are fought in the name of religion, military invasions change innocent people’s citizenship in an instant and elections are fraught with charges of vote-tampering. The natural cynicism of teens feeds on this kind of negativity and there seems to… Read more…
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Weaving musical harmonies
My youngest child – an almost 14-year-old girl – has had the great fortune to sing in a really good community children’s choir for the past several years. This summer, the senior and chamber choirs have been invited to compete in the championship level of the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia (another blog post altogether!). The choir came home with two gold medal standings the last time they competed in these games. Love of music shows up in the walldecal above my daughter’s bed. I had no idea, when she began at the age of 8, that we were starting down… Read more…
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The Comparison Game
Looking around me, I can’t help but see other people who have made it a priority to find a way to give back. Whether it’s my good friend who dedicates time every year to organizing events to raise money for our local hospital, a caring colleague who organizes a Relay for Life team year after year to raise money to fund cancer research, a fellow chorister who volunteers at her grandchildrens’ school to help with the reading program, a former workmate who sits on a volunteer board to promote mental health, or my Dad, who drags watering can after watering… Read more…
