I’m feeling particularly nostalgic this time of year, as my mother passed away at the end of October. She left behind a lot of magical memories, hers and mine, that…
Making Magical Memories at Christmas
The Help: Black and White and Red All Over
The 60s was a time when the relationships between the Blacks and the Whites grew embarrassingly red for many. The shame of it all is brilliantly captured in Kathryn Stockett’s…
Hereafter, Heaven, and Afterlife
Afterlife As this year draws to a close, I’m reflecting on other endings, chiefly the afterlife. With my mother’s passing, I’ve become preoccupied with questions about death and heaven, if…
It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like That
I have this void in my life right now. My mother passed away on Oct. 27th at the age of 96. I had a habit of calling her twice a…
Harry Brown Meets Network
Some writers seem clairvoyant. Gary Young the screenwriter of the film, Harry Brown, certainly seems to be one of them. He showed inequities in one country’s social system before they…
What Price Beauty?
What lengths would you go to try and live up to the popular media’s conception of beauty? Judging by what is going on in society today, it seems that many…
Passion: The Driving Force
I sometimes wonder what keeps me day after day, hour after hour, year after year sitting in front of a computer, working on stories. I struggle to find the right…
Distracted By The Fall of the Tomato
Instead of staying focused on writing my mother’s memoir, I’ve been distracted by the plight of the tomato. This may seem odd, when there’s so much going on in the…
A Whole Empire Walking
Since I was old enough to comprehend, my mother has bent my ear with stories of how awful it was in the old country, before she immigrated to Canada when…
Writing As Therapy
Although I’ve written many poems, I’ve only published one poem on my site. For me, poetry has been largely a way to deal with powerful feelings that arise, often unexpected…