Trigger warning: This blog will attempt to explain something that sexual assault survivors will find disturbing and upsetting. The video goes into more explicit (but appropriate and incredibly helpful) detail. Those who have experienced sexual violence may find this blog is a trigger for them. Please take care of yourself and don’t read it if it will …
Third Anniversary–Leather
It has been three years since Husband and I stood before family and friends to commit our lives to each other…our third anniversary. Maybe now we are an old married couple? 😉 Pastor John was one of the officiants at our ceremony. He means a lot to both of us, as he has had significant …
A letter to the woman triggered by #MeToo
Hello to the woman who is struggling with the #MeToo movement, A person pretty much has to live under a rock not to know about the #MeToo movement these days. So very many women are feeling, for the first time, they can speak out and have their sexual harassment and their sexual assault validated. It …
Scammed
This week, someone tried to scam us at the office. Twice on the same day. For several weeks of someone from another country asking to set up a series of appointments with us while here on an extended leave. Melanie’s spidey sense said something wasn’t quite right, though nothing she could specifically point to. The gentleman …
The Ups and Downs of Family Gatherings
This weekend is Thanksgiving. In a couple of months will be Christmas. Several months after that will be Easter, then Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and July Long Weekend…all of these occasions for times with family. The week running up to Thanksgiving can be a preoccupied one at a counselling centre. And the week after it, …
Trauma from a Distance
Today, September 11, is a day that I remember well in 2001. I was driving to work when I heard about the World Trade Center tower being hit as the top story of the news. By the time I got to my office, the second tower had been hit. By the time we finished our …
Accident on the Coquihalla
**Trigger warning…some graphic accident info described. Stop reading if you could be triggered, please. After 4 days of travel, we were on the Coquihalla, almost to our destination on the West Coast…and then we came upon the scene. The tour bus had done a complete roll, landing on the side of the highway…missing all the …
Father-ishness
Today is a day we honour fathers in our lives…”Father’s Day”…and folks all over the city are having brunches, breakfasts of dried out cold toast or limp waffles, and BarBQ’s. The value of fathers in a child’s life cannot be overestimated. Having a father to affirm your personhood, to celebrate who you are, to remind …
A Man’s Desire
Too often, men don’t get to be who they really are, say what they really feel have their outside match their inside express what they really think Men get shut down, shut out, cut off from the best parts of who they are when society, their community, maybe even their own family tells them …
The Hidden Cost of Public Protection
Becoming a good soldier, a good cop, or a good fire fire fighter and being a warm, engaged, vulnerable partner/parent is difficult. Because being a good public protector means not staying in control, dominating, exerting power and never showing vulnerability…it’s a requirement to stay alive on the battle field… …and sets that same public protector up for …