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 spoke at the graduation ceremony of the Outtatown program at CMU on Sunday. Just 2 days before, half of them had come back from several months in Guatemala, and the other half from South Africa. Now the room had several rows of young adults with a healthy glow about them, and a gym full …
This time of year is tricky in the back lane. The snow that got packed down in the road during the winter got turned into a slushy mess with warmer weather. Now it’s gotten cold again, and that slush has frozen into solid position: deep ruts. The challenge driving down the back lane these days …
Y’know in the movies, when there is that ominous sound? Well, in my mind, the cute little dog isn’t included…but I have often heard a sound rather like that as the calendar approaches March 29th. My body could feel the day coming. The March breezes don’t have quite the bite that February winds do. We …
Dear Son, So many thoughts and feelings and words inside me, this morning after the night of your team’s great National Championship loss. So many things deliberately unsaid yesterday…yesterday was a day of silent comfort, sitting in the sadness with you. Words weren’t a good idea yesterday. And today, you are a couple of time …
She would have been sixteen today. I have her birthday marked on our calendar. We mark the occasion every year. Not with a birthday cake though. With white daisies. Janna Hope was only 3 weeks old when the abnormalities of her little heart were too much for her little body to bear. In the years …
Depression is a scary diagnosis when it happens to someone living in your house. When depression hits someone you love, it’s so hard to figure out how to be meaningfully supportive. It’s so much easier to support someone with a broken leg than with a heart that feels lifeless and heavy, isn’t it? In this …
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 …
I have a theory about Valentine’s Day: Valentine’s Day is a crushingly discouraging day for those in the midst of heartbreak. A reminder of al that was lost. It is salt in the wound for those that are single, irritating the soul that seemingly everyone, save you, has someone to share romantic cards and dinner …
In a survey of 451 women in November of 2017: 50% of women say they have experienced sexual harassment as defined by Canada’s labour code: “any conduct, comment, gesture, or contact of a sexual nature that is likely to cause offence or humiliation to any employee; or that might, on reasonable grounds, be perceived by that …