The Final Farewell
Today I’m attending the sad goodbye for Lauren Davis and I’ve been asked to read a poem during the service. …
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Personal Life
Back off My Beans
I don’t drink alcohol, I quit smoking in 1988 and I don’t do drugs. Not illegal ones, anyway, and none for pure pleasure. I have only one vice left and that’s coffee. So scientists, please keep your beakers away from my Keurig. …
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Our Loyal Sentry
On Sunday afternoon, I was in the basement gathering some laundry I had hung to dry when a noise in the other room caught my attention. Spice was on the bookshelf behind the drum kit, knocking books onto the floor. “That’s weird”, I thought. “Spice doesn’t read.” …
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. …
Immeasurable Grief
As I write these words, I’m aware I am still in shock. Lauren Davis, the beautiful, talented, quick-witted and so very young daughter of Erin Davis, died unexpectedly overnight Sunday. Just hours before, she had celebrated her first Mother’s Day and on Facebook, her smiling face greeted the world as she showed off her coconut necklace. That’s little Colin’s nickname: Coconut. …
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Buzz Killer
Saturday morning, enjoying a rare sleep-in and the house begins to rumble. It sounds like a WWII tank is outside, taking aim. It’s 6:15 am and there is no way anyone within a block radius is sleeping through it. …
What’s Swedish for Divorce?
Maybe it’s a good thing that despite pleas from the people of southwestern Ontario, Ikea refuses to open a store in my part of the province. They say we don’t meet their criteria for population density. We might be better off because of it.  …
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House for Sale
No, not the one I live in. Many months ago, we joined with brother Rob and another partner in a house-flipping adventure. We bought a wreck of a place in Welland, ON and through the magic of money and back-breaking labour, turned it into a home for two families and an income property for someone to buy. …
Double Trouble
A woman who made a bet with friends found her exact replica in less than a month thanks to social media. Although the search was worldwide, Naimh Geaney from Dublin, Ireland found her mirror image in a stranger who lived only an hour’s drive away. …
Finding John Davies
Many years ago, with my first bit of extra radio cash I bought a painting by an artist whose work I had seen at a Niagara art show. …
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Reversal of Apple Fortunes
As sick as I am of making mistakes with my iPhone keyboard, it looks like I’ll be staying with the house that Jobs built. …
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Drugs of Choice
Do you also have this discussion in your home: A medication will expire and one of you will want to get rid of it while the other thinks it’s a waste. …
401K – The K is for Karma
I had a lovely weekend away chez BFF Erin and BFFH Rob in their home on the lake. It just feels right to wake up and look out over the water first thing. Maybe it’s some sort of lizard-brain memory of crawling out of it millions of years ago. …
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Diet Obsessions
By the time a Canadian girl is 14, she has been on 1100 diets. Okay, I obviously made that up. But it seems that teen females are experimenting with hazardous eating regimens just like my friends and I did back in the day. …
Ode to a Frozen Diet Dinner
O frozen meal, be you Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers or Healthy Choice. How do you lure me back when I know of your failings and shortcomings? You are like the rectangular mafia found in my grocer’s freezer: you keep pulling me back in. …
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Sprucing up the Place
It became apparent during a recent water spill that the ancient carpet in my office/studio was past its best-before date. …
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My Outrage Button is Stuck
You could be forgiven if you thought this was an April Fool’s Day hoax, but the Internet is the last safe haven for political incorrectness that borders on offensive. …
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