As a child, we got our Christmas tree a block away from St. Peter’s Church. Each year an argument ensued between my folks and the guy they negotiated with who they affectionately called ‘the robber.” He was notorious for selling overpriced Christmas trees to the locals in the shadow of the enormous crucifix perched high […]
Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be in the Santa Claus Parade. It was deeply nostalgic for me. It was my special time spent with my dad where he could feel like a kid while I revelled in the magic. The parade left an indomitable mark on my life. Though I was […]
I grew up in a noisy Eastern European family that only knew spirited discussions around the dinner table. Our relatives would debate over a spread filled with food and drink. The tone was loud to compete with the lively conversations happening simultaneously. Once the night was over, everyone would hug, kiss and part ways until […]
It’s that marvellous time of the year where my breasts get squeezed into pancakes you’d find at an IHOP. My biennial mammogram. Sounds like candygram but not so sweet. I arrive at my appointment wondering whether a guy would ever agree to get his family jewels squished between two acrylic square panels resembling s’mores. I […]
We are currently in an incarnation of the Prohibition Act in Canada – this time its weed. It was bound to happen, and it’s unfolding in the second largest country on the planet. A peacekeeping, compassionate and apologetic nation who is the custodian to a quiet hip quotient. Hosts to the largest Gay Pride Parade […]
We met the good, old-fashioned way. In a bar. It was a time when Tinder was inconceivable and computer dating not yet invented. I’m grateful our courtship was void of technology because at least no one could record our first date. It was an event ripe to become a sketch on Saturday Night Live. It was […]
Tis the season that the young adults head back to formal education or as I call it “drinking-camp.” Despite the fact I still had two cubs at home, I wept ad nauseam when our eldest attended University. I cried less once our middle son attended and with our daughter, I already had a cargo van […]
Reflecting on the soundtrack to our lives, Aretha was an anchor playing in mine. To me, she was Our Lady of Soul. A break-up, declaring oneself, a liberating moment, all sealed with Aretha belting out R-E-S-P-E-C-T. A song that has become a familiar worldwide chant of empowerment, ‘I Say A Little Prayer,’ ‘(You Make Me Feel […]
It feels like I’m living through an ongoing technological revolution. While others yell “Viva la revolution” I’m thinking “Vive la résistance.” I have a unique relationship with technology – none. I change my Apple sign in daily. It’s not even ‘a’ thing anymore; it’s a ‘we’ thing. Anything electronic resists me so intensely there’s a […]
With summer here I’m reminded of how useless a gardener I am. Except for a sprawling German ivy and some moss, weeds seem to be my most loyal patrons. I’m so lousy with plants that I was genuinely concerned about becoming a parent knowing I could kill a healthy houseplant in a week. Though I […]