Newfoundland’s Puffins and Icebergs Eluded Us but We Loved It Anyway
Visiting Newfoundland was really about my Mom.
…Newfoundland’s Puffins and Icebergs Eluded Us but We Loved It AnywayRead More »
grief
Miss Sugar 2005-2021
We have read every condolence. Every reference to her oft-written blog phrases “filthy dogs” and “human beans”. Received flowers from our dear friends and been notified of donations in her name to the Humane Society London and Middlesex and Animal Aide of St. Thomas. We are so grateful. You get it. Pets are family. Losing them is painful.
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Mom Day
Today marks the 81st year of my Mother’s birth. It’s also 10 months less a day since she died.
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Getting Over It
Over the years, I’ve received loads of emails and messages from people who were grateful that I taught them about sepsis. They’d never heard of it and now know it exists. Maybe that knowledge could save a life. So, why is it that I can recite by heart the one negative email I got?
…A Few of Dad’s Favourite Things II
After I posted last week’s story about my Dad’s jacket and horse-racing suit, I realized I’d handled another, similar situation completely differently. In fact, I decided immediately what I would do, instead of packing the things and lingering over the quandary. It had to do with my friend and colleague, Jodi Taylor.
…Thankful Thursday – The Gift of Distraction
There’s something to be said for keeping one’s mind off the thing that’s being a bother when all you’re doing is repeating the same information on a loop. It’s alluring to keep going over it in your head, again and again. But I’ve found that distracting myself can be just as healing. Instead of running repeat laps on the same mental track, when I come back to the issue or the thing, it’s like driving a car with a fresh set of tires. …
Throwback Thursday – Winner’s Circle
It’s been nine long/short months since we lost our Dad to complications of Parkinson’s disease. Grief is like that. It’s fast but it’s also slow. I feel it most acutely on weekends because that’s when I’d hit the road to see him. His absence is huge and created a hole in our lives that will never be filled. …
Dad in my Heart
My chiropractor is simply wonderful. She’s thoughtful and smart. She’s the woman who fixed my neck within seconds of our first meeting, after I endured two years of migraines and trying out all sorts of experts who couldn’t do it. I will always be grateful. Like me, she lost her Dad recently, so she knows how it feels. …
Review: The Wild Edge of Sorrow
This book came to my attention because Derek was hired to narrate it for an audiobook. Many times through the process he would share with me a phrase that resonated with him, or tell me an anecdote from it that hit close to home. Once the audiobook was finished, I purchased a copy from North Atlantic Books and popped it on a memory stick which I listened to while I drove.
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March of Dimes
Science is my guiding force in this life. I’m not likely to believe in things I can’t see and although I don’t pooh-pooh anyone else’s philosophies of life, I have a healthy skepticism for them. Live and let live, I say. So imagine my surprise when I found out that I’d been experiencing a paranormal phenomenon, without even realizing it. …
At A Loss
There are some things that forever change you. You’re one person before it occurs, and another person afterward. In my immediate family, it was the accidental death on Christmas Day of my uncle Caz, my Mom’s little brother, at just 34. Collectively, a generation before mine would have said that about the assassination of President Kennedy. You could also point to the date in 1997 when Princess Diana’s life was cut short. And, of course, 9/11. …
Bewildered and Bereaved
This is not an easy post to write or a simple story to tell.  Derek’s cousin’s teenage son has died, apparently from a self-inflicted shot with his Dad’s shotgun.  Charlie was 16. …