I emerge into consciousness surrounded by a cacophony of mewls and engulfed by balls of fur. My sight is dim and I can barely hear. With every passing minute, the light grows brighter and I feel the warmth from my mommy. Searching for nourishment I find her body and drink from her bosom. There are so many sounds, I feel confused and afraid. As each day passes, I feel love and safety flow around me. Then one day strangers appear. Read more…
When a person gets into their fifties it’s time to start worrying about your health. Time to start taking better care of yourself so you can last another thirty or more years. Time: It’s ticking away. When the doctor gave me a form to get a stool test, I ignored it at first. I thought, “Hey I feel fine, I don’t need to get tested”. Until I talked to a few people and was told that, yes it’s important to Read more…
The Holodomor – it’s a word I’d never heard until this week. A tragedy that occurred almost one hundred years ago in the Ukraine. At the time part of the Soviet Union. Holodomor literally means death by hunger. And that is what happened between 1931 and 1934 in many parts of Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Some consider it a form of genocide committed by Joseph Stalin against the Ukrainian people. It’s a story that not that many of us are familiar Read more…
Janice stood in the middle of the crowd, joy and euphoria bounced all around. It was a feeling shared by everyone. On the stage stood her gridiron heroes. When the season ended she didn’t think The Chiefs would repeat as champions. Kansas City finished the season as the third seed and would have to play in Baltimore to make the conference finals. After proving their dominance, the Superbowl was a nail-biter to the end and when her team finally raised Read more…
Barrman and his buddy Brettman slid across the top of the mountain. The sun caressed their faces as the glow in their eyes lit their way forward. The two ski buddies rejoiced in connecting at the top of the world once again. It had been too long since they’d shared their passion for dancing on the snow. The traverse across the top carried them onward and upward. They came to a fork in the path and elected to push a Read more…
There comes a time in a person’s life when our mortality sneaks up on us—a time when we need to look at our health and start to take care of it. For many men and some women, we tend to put it off. We hope to ignore the passage of time. I’m fifty-three years old and closing in on my fifty-fourth. So when the doctor gave me a form to go and get a stool sample to take in I Read more…
Stumpy staggered toward the alley in the middle of the town. His legs were numb, snow whirled through the air and he rubbed his hands trying to find warmth. He rubbed his legs trying to feel them. Cold, so cold. The snow started in the middle of the night, he lay under his cardboard shelter trying to find some peace. Find some sleep. Sleep escaped him when the freeze hit. There was so much wind, and it howled down the Read more…
The ball of energy squirmed and screamed. Her cries pierced the air with an explosive vibration. I felt her cry echo within my soul. I reached out and her tiny hand grasped my finger. Silence. Time stood still and we stared into each others eyes. From that moment on I was hers. My heart, my soul, my very being belonged to her. And she to me. The bundle of newborn energy lay there weak and vulnerable. Yet she held a Read more…
Snow filtered from the skies above and coated the mountain with a blanket of joy. Fifteen centimetres of light fluffy powder added to the previous week of winter wonder. The season started slowly, now with all this new snow, the rocks were finally disappearing. Barrman stared out the window of his sister’s car as they rounded the last curves to Big White Mountain. “Looks pretty sweet out there, even though there isn’t much to see.” “I’m excited despite all the Read more…
Anxiety courses through my body and my brain. I feel like a failure and yet I know that is not true. But still, those feelings persist. “I hate my life” the words come unbidden to my mouth. Yet how could I even think that? I know the truth is I have an amazing life. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant daughter, and a beautiful home. I have everything I could possibly need. Yet I feel lost. Adrift in my Read more…