If the room is filled with a cool white light and the air smells crisp like apples and fresh laundry, then you can tell that it has snowed before you even open your eyes. I remember the joy of smelling snow as a child, and jumping out of bed to see if it was true. … Continue reading Snow, Snow, Snow!
Family
Wedding Parties, Love and Honesty
We were lounging in my daughter Rose's shared house in Halifax watching that reality show about women choosing their wedding dresses when one of the young college girls turned to me and asked me directly, “Did you cry when you chose your wedding dress”? I looked to my daughter with a query in my eyes … Continue reading Wedding Parties, Love and Honesty
Happy times with my Daughter
Treat. Yo. Self.This was my daughter’s mantra on my weekend visit into Halifax, the city of students.For us, a brunch out, a day of shopping and a dinner out were the extent of our madness, but was it was great to do whatever we wanted and take all the time we wanted eating and talking.What … Continue reading Happy times with my Daughter
Dinner Table Manners
There is a myth circulating in present day media that all families who are any good, and any parents who have any control over their kids, will sit down and eat dinner together – whether they like it or not. And I am not sure I subscribe to that popular guilt trip – just as … Continue reading Dinner Table Manners
The Life and Death of Jackie
Jackie was my Mom’s best friend and was always in our lives, swinging around the outside of family events like a satellite for as long as I can remember. She worked as a nurse, and then got her MA and taught nursing. She was a calm, practical person, who was great in a crisis or just out … Continue reading The Life and Death of Jackie
Marriage is like a nice old carpet
Who’s arguing anyway? My husband and I have been together for 27 years and are becoming our parents. We have plenty of good times, laughter and joy, but we argue too. Sometimes they are important arguments and sometimes they just end in “Oh, fuck off.”
My Sister Kate
My Sister Kate A friend pointed out to me that I always preface my sister this way; My Sister Kate. I could also say, My Crazy Sister Kate, and she would probably not mind. She called herself Crazy Kate when she was a giggling preteen. Laughing so hard that she would bring tears to her … Continue reading My Sister Kate
Mid Life Mojo
Mid Life Mojo – Low Lying Libido There are times in a mother’s life when she rightly feels that she has lost her ‘mojo’. And the reason is pretty obvious; exhaustion! But I also think that it has something to do with lack of time alone. In order to feel good in your body, and … Continue reading Mid Life Mojo
Only Your Mother Knows for Sure
We live in a man’s world, and any man that disputes that fact is not a man that understands a woman’s life. When my husband was recently in Halifax with our 19 year old daughter, they walked around at night, on any road and through empty dark school yards. He recognized that she would never … Continue reading Only Your Mother Knows for Sure
My Dad Died
My Dad died. A universal experience and yet the pain is so personal. We all come to a stage in childhood when we realize that we are going to have to live without our parents and it comes as a terrible revelation. Then as an adult we bury our fear of death and pretend that … Continue reading My Dad Died
Notes from a Sinking Isthmus 