The night before Husband and I wed, the officiating pastors sat down with us—Husband, I, and our Junior Tribe Members (JTM’s). We had just had a party with family and close friends at our rehearsal-less dinner and they had gone home. Immediate family and the officiants were left. We gathered to review how the ceremony …
Dear Coach, It wasn’t easy to support my son’s decision to travel across the country to play on your team. Now, 5 years later, with 20/20 hindsight, it was a brilliant decision. And not because the team won the National Championship…but because of the five years which led up to this championship. You see, when …
Dear Little Ones, Yesterday, it was exactly a quarter century since I last heard your heart beats. It is exactly 25 years ago today that my world fell in and blew apart; simultaneously imploding and exploding. No heart beats one morning. Later that day, when I held you, you were both impossibly perfect, even in …
Dear folks of Humboldt, As a therapist, I’m a person who has the tender, holy privilege and responsibility of sitting with people in the darkest circumstances of their lives. I want to acknowledge the gift you have been to all of us Canadians–even the world. Your community has let us in on your grief and pain after …
I loved, during the Olympics, watching athletes read letters of love from their parents. Isn’t it beautiful to watch how people are moved by reading how much their parents love them and admire their grit and perseverance? Children weep when witnessing the love and pride of a parent: “Dear Kaitlyn and Andrew…”@WeaverPoje get a letter …
My daughter turned two this summer. That’s right – I blinked and suddenly a toddler has entered my world. She’s a firecracker, who’s testing her limits as a typical “terrible two-year-old”, as we so affectionately say at this age! As I write this, I can hear her rumbling around in her room, determined that, today, …
Husband and our youngest Junior Tribe Member and I planted an oak tree yesterday. A wee baby oak. I’m taller than she is, and I’m not tall. We picked her out at the nursery on Friday. On Saturday, I went to get the dirt while Husband and JTM dug the hole. Twice as big …
We are wired for connection. We do better when we spend time together with other people. The first in a series… Family meals are challenging these days. In fall, sometimes seemingly impossible between music lessons, sports teams, parental work demands. With each family member having a different but full schedule, figuring out how to get …
I have everything I need, and many things I would want. So…knowing my birthday was coming up, and knowing the Junior Tribe Members might ask me what I would want for my birthday, Husband and I cooked up a plan: I would ask for stories for my birthday. Several weeks ago, we gave each person …
I often hear someone refusing to come to counselling because they don’t have the problem: “If I’m not the rebellious one, why would I need counselling?” “He’s the one that drinks, not me. He needs counselling, not me!” “My wife is the one that lost her parents in the accident. I don’t need help.” “The …