Dear Carolyn, Life is messy, isn’t it? Exquisitely so, maybe…but exquisitely messy. My marriage to your husband, I think, is a classic example. Even that sentence, sounds odd, doesn’t it? Let me explain. At your service, your love of packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child was mentioned several times. Your husband said that you imagined …
A letter to Car: Your kids
Dear Carolyn, They wore red. Each of them. Their shirt or in their tie. It was your favorite color and one of the many ways they honored your memory that day. I remember them walking in to the church and down the aisle to the the front, all slow and somber and dressed up. They cleaned up real …
A letter to Car: Your husband
Dear Carolyn, I remember coming back to the office in the afternoon after I attended your funeral and told Melanie, “It was beautiful how he loved her. He spoke so well of her. He spoke to his sons about who she was in a remarkable way that taught us all a little about what makes …
A letter to Car: You
Dear Carolyn, It’s odd isn’t it? The name, “Carolyn” isn’t very common, particularly with our spelling. And yet we share it, just as we now share the same man as our love. What is even odder was that we shared the same profession. There’s not many of us Carolyn’s that are Occupational Therapists. I avoided …
Bystander to Hero
Years ago, during grad school, I was flying back to California to study after a visit home. I and the other passengers were sitting in the airplane while it was waiting on the tarmac. As we sat quietly waiting to taxi to the runway, soft wisps of smoke began to emerge from the ventilation system. …
The Ring
I’ve been on my own for about 10 years now. I remember the first week I was alone rather like a blur…or maybe rather, I don’t really remember it at all. I wasn’t sleeping; I had lost weight; I was just putting one foot in front of the other. My friends were supportive and were …
The Leap into Love
I’m getting married. I’m engaged. Yep…the marriage therapist is herself entering into the commitment of a lifetime of love. I believe that we are created to bond closely with another. I believe in the power of connection. I have watched and facilitated relationships heal with trust being restored. I know that research says that those …
Introducing Beckett–and our favourite two time Grandma!
Our office manager, Melanie, loved being a grandma so much, she decided to do it all over again. Ava is the sparkle in her eye, and the screensaver on her phone, and the photo on the wall by her desk. And now,for variety, she had a grandson as variety to her adored granddaughter. Introducing Melanie’s …
The power of “WOW”
I’m a bit of a knowledge geek. Or, maybe, a lot of a knowledge geek. One of the ways I increase my enjoyment factor when I exercise is to listen to podcasts that teach me things…pretty nerdy, huh? But I like to hear about new and interesting things…it’s just quirky interesting learning…and I find I …
Altered Memories or Lying?
When I was in Grade 2, we moved from a house that I loved and a neighbourhood I felt safe in–I loved my school, enjoyed my school, had great friends down the street, loved the beautiful elm trees arching over the street, and loved playing on the stone steps of the grand church nearby. I …