A year ago, I was at the apex of my cumulative cancer treatments. Surgery, dozens of tests, hospitalizations, drugs, chemotherapy and radiation had huge side effects on my brain and body. It felt very much like the forgetfulness we all feel as we age, but much sharper and more pronounced. I knew I was forgetting…
Category: Life & Death
Best Before Date
I have this “thing” for Best Before tags … You know, those little yellow, red, green, white or blue plastic tags stamped with a best before date … which apparently are colour coded based on the day the bread is baked. I saved an entire box of them during my early childhood years. Milk bags…
Be Still, My Heart & Mind
As we rush madly into the holiday season, I am taking a step back. Since my father passed away in 1995, it’s been part of my journey to pause around Christmas. Reflect. Look back on the year and see where it has taken me. New heights and depths? If not, I am not trying hard…
Paperless Trail
I save every single receipt. Every. Single. One. Just in case I have to prove I bought something. Anything. Milk and bread. Gas. A new Hollister hoodie. You can imagine the mountain of paper that builds. The receipts weren’t even nicely folded into file folders, but wadded into balls and stuffed into boxes. Over nine…
Stuck in the Sand
One of my best coping strategies is sticking my head in the sand. “La! La! La! La! I can’t hear you!” I yell at myself, eyes squeezed tightly shut, fingers jammed into my own ears like a three-year-old. When my bestie asks if I have dealt with <current crisis> I respond with “Shhhhhhhh. There is…
An Amazing Thing Happened When I Gave Up Cable TV
While on medical leave to battle breast cancer, I was fortunate enough to have long-term disability coverage, which meant I was still pulling in a monthly paycheck. It was skin and bones compared to my previous income levels, but manageable. We certainly weren’t going on vacations, an excursion was only as far as the pharmacy,…
FEARLESS 2019
My Chosen Word. It’s more than than a New Year’s resolution. It’s the one little word that you want to write on your soul. Something to live with and embrace in the coming year. It’s a word that might find its way to you on its own, and keep showing up on your doorstep, waiting…
ADVENTures in December
Today – December 2 – is the first day of the Advent for 2018. It’s a time of anticipation and a countdown to the aventus (meaning arrival or coming in Latin). But arrival of what? Its symbology has swirled among our earliest religions, folding in layers and layers of traditions, just like Christmas itself. It’s…
December 1st, 2018
December is a welcome blast of Northern air to clean out the death and dying I associate with November. The eleventh month is one, which – for me – embodies endings and memorials. The last traces of the summer have gone, but the winter has not yet begun. It’s the No Mans Land of the…
As I usher out November
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could only say good things? I still – occasionally – have an angry mouth. November is THE most painful month for me. It’s always full of loss, endings and chaos. I will miss your awesome coffee, especially at 3am. I wrapped both hands around each mug in gratitude. And…
The Privilege of Being Canadian
I was falling asleep in the backseat of an Uber ride, my flight having landed well past midnight after a long and weary day of travel. Uber has streamlined its mobile application, so I was connected with my driver as soon as I hit the confirm button. It told me his name, car make and…
The Reluctant Traveller – St. John’s NFLD
My last blog entry spoke of my regret of not having the time nor money to travel … and my hope that my son takes the opportunity to travel the world before settling into work, family and the other life events that happen while you are busy making other plans. All of a sudden, I…
Fox Diaries 