Around the time Brenda and I put our Michigan house up for sale, six months into the pandemic, we spent some time discussing what we wanted our life in Toronto to look like. As we now prepare to move for a second time within Toronto – our landlord wants us out of our rental by…
I have a sweet memory of driving with Ralph from our home in the city to his brother’s place, the family farm. It was a late summer evening, with the sun about an hour from setting. I remember it being the kind of warm temperature that begs for windows to be rolled down. We could smell…
Safe Families Canada works to fill the gaps in child and family support services across Canada. Families who access support from Safe Families Canada may be dealing with financial instability (due to unemployment or the rising cost of living), housing insecurity, substance abuse, incarceration or illness. Motivated by grace, volunteers come alongside families in crisis…
We live in a friendly neighbourhood where everyone knows you – by your dog’s name. It took us more years than we are willing to admit to learn Cooper and Gracie’s owner’s name (Steve), and we talk with Jersey’s owners (names not yet known) through the fence often. For over nine years, we were Luna’s…
They’ve been dangling for weeks. If it was up to me, I’d have been on them in January, but the boss says it is better to keep ladder jobs until the end of winter. No point in slipping when you don’t have to. Still, all those forgotten strings of lights in the park are looking…
Editor’s note: Fern Boldt wrote this tribute to her husband and read it to him on the occasion of their 58th wedding anniversary. Peter is experiencing poor health and memory loss, and lives in a long term care home where Fern visits every day. For their anniversary dinner in December, Fern brought ribs and read…
We first met when we were both first-year university students. Carina was a fine arts major at the new campus of Redeemer College, and I was an engineering major at a nearby university. I had travelled to Redeemer to visit some friends and I can still picture the spot in the hallway where our eyes…
Like the Duggar family I grew up without a TV. Yet their lives, more than mine, have been deeply shaped by television. Over two million people watched each episode of 19 and Counting, a reality show that ran from 2008 to 2015 featuring Jim Bob, Michelle and their very large homeschooling Baptist family. Despite the…
Since childhood I have wanted to know who my ancestors were and where I came from. This flowed out of a general interest in history. I knew the major milestones such as the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages and the exploration and settlement of the Americas. But where did my own family enter the picture?…
Winter may not be my favourite season, but I do appreciate much of its unique beauty. In the summer I’m often awake early, waiting for the robin’s song to announce sunrise. But in the winter’s darkness I need an alarm clock to rouse me from hibernation. Bleary-eyed, I follow the aroma of fresh coffee into…
Recently the Canadian media have been puzzling over the notion of parental rights, a concept they appear to regard as strange and unusual. Generally, the commentators take a condescending tone, assuming that all right-thinking Canadians would naturally defer to their betters in the provincial public education bureaucracy. The flurry of articles surrounding parental rights has…
Dear Son, Even as we drive across the midriff of Canada, prairie skin stubbled with dry grass and grain elevators, you and your brother are seated in the back playing Super Smash Bros. I see the smiles on your faces, hear the gentle ribbing and the laughter, and for this moment, I’m grateful for video…
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