Humans are obsessed with their future. We want to know what will happen tomorrow, the day, month, year or decades after that. We read horoscopes, visit fortune tellers and try to predict the stock market. We are less capable adults if we don’t plan ahead for rainy days, education funds and retirement. I spent a…
Category: Pink Dot Detour
Out of practice
Phew! I am so out of practice that stringing words together and typing them into a document requires my full concentration … which is quite difficult when you are busy living, loving and laughing. Where has the summer gone? I’ve been so busy enjoying BBQs, beaches, craft beer and a boy that I have barely…
Solitude
I crave solitude. Which is quite the about-face for a confirmed card-carrying Extrovert. In the final quarter of 2017, my world spiralled out of control, careening from side to side like a car spinning on ice, bouncing from one concrete life barrier to the next. I had to stop and get off the rollercoaster to…
Scanxiety
I was back at the Cancer Centre last week for my six month post-treatment checkup with my oncologist. Just over a year ago in April 2017, I had never set foot in the (old name) Oshawa Hospital, or what I have affectionately renamed as the Lakeridge Health Oshawa Spa. The Ajax-Pickering Hospital was closer to…
My Piñata Life
Creative Writing Exercise B) Imagine a character has just learned that he/she has just won the lottery. IMPORTANT: The goal is to describe not the character but the room (or general area) the character is inhabiting. DO NOT tell the reader that the character has just won the lottery. * * * * * It happened like The Big Bang. First,…
My Obituary
My second creative writing course at the University of Toronto – Writing Through Reading – started three weeks ago. I’ve been so busy getting well that I haven’t had the time or inclination to blog. So sorry and thank you to those who reached out to see where my words were. Sharing my Week 1…
Mother’s Day
My Mother loved colours on the cooler side of the spectrum … mauves, light blues and mint greens. I loved pinks and oranges, especially together. Mom dressed me in a beautiful pale yellow lace dress for my sister’s wedding, but there are no photos. At two and a half, I was having none of camera…
Grateful Day
I am grateful that I woke up. I give thanks to God and ask for His forgiveness, guidance and grace. I am grateful that I slept well in my beautiful and cozy silver grey striped sheets and duvet. I am grateful that I heard my son come in late last night. He is safe and…
My Hero
Flash Fiction Challenge: Explore the Complications of Heroism from Chuck Wendig. “You are a hero!” my best friend whispered as she hugged me tightly. “Why?” I asked, “Because I didn’t die?” Still standing after a brutal year-long Round One in the ring with cancer and its insidious treatment, I need to squeeze my eyes shut…
No Signature Required
“I can’t read that. It’s in cursive.” Cursive and script were taken off the elementary school curriculum years ago. I recall my Grade Four son bringing home a 32-page handwriting workbook to be done over the weekend. Being left-handed, it was an exercise in contortionist’s pain. That was his entire education on script. Humankind’s history…
Personal Pain
Am I allowed to feel a moment of personal pain? I feel guilty expressing my pain when it pales in comparison to other’s pain. The pain of Humbolt. The pain of Toronto. The pain on the other sides of those stories. The pain of the truck driver. What kind of pain did Alek Minassian feel…
Cancer Wars
Imagine the opening scene of a dramatic television show … the beige double doors to the hospital’s Chemotherapy Unit swing open … slo-mo filming crunches time to jarring seconds, allowing you to take in the chaotic landscape before you. Row upon row of sick people sit in blue vinyl recliners while hooked up to IV…
Fox Diaries 