Actions Speak Louder than Words
Two words have been floating in an out of my mind over the past couple of days: integrity and graciousness, two words not commonly used in our daily language, but words that have powerful meaning. By definition integrity means being honest and morally upright; and by definition graciousness means being courteous, kind, and pleasant. Nothing brings these two words front and centre more than a twelve-hour day spent among thousands and thousands of people walking in the heat of the day at Animal...
Read MoreAnd Then There was Light!
Two stories. One lesson. The alarm was set for 3:10 a.m. Saturday morning and, thankfully, it was on Doug’s phone and not the bedside clock. He rolled over and slept for another ten minutes before getting up and doing what we all need to do when our feet hit the floor after a night’s sleep. Then it was my turn. “Can you leave on the light, please.” I called from our bedroom, wondering why he left the bathroom in darkness. “I can’t. The hydro’s out,” came the reply. Good grief!...
Read MoreCommitment and Transformation
My husband devours the Saturday Toronto Star. I doubt very much that he reads the obituaries or the classifieds, but he does read most of it over a period of a couple of days. I, on the other hand, seldom read it, but once in a while an article catches my eye. This happened a couple of Mondays ago when I was gathering up the scattered paper to put in our recycling. I skimmed the pages and two headlines caught my attention. I read each to completion. My stomach almost heaved at the...
Read MoreTomorrow is Another Day
Scarlett O’Hara’s closing soliloquy in Gone with the Wind has been resonating in my head since awakening yesterday morning: “After all, tomorrow is another day.” She was quite right! There is always tomorrow—any procrastinator will tell you that! But, perhaps these words are echoing in my head because everywhere I turn these days I hear about or read comments, even exciting how-to suggestions, on facing my tomorrows—especially when one of those tomorrows is the beginning of a...
Read More“I love it when a plan comes together!”
In December 2015 I completed my third novel. It felt good! Closure. A sense of satisfaction. A job well done. All those wonderful feelings a writer experiences when something is finished. It reminds me of something said by Col. John “Hannibal” Smith— the cigar-smoking leader of a renegade commando squad in the 1980s TV show, A-Team. Played by George Peppard, Col. Smith became famous for saying, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Well, Col. Smith, aka...
Read MoreGodbwye —“God be with ye”
On Saturday, October 22, the autumn sun peeked in and out of the clouds. The wind oscillated from gentle and accommodating to cold and brisk. The leaves radiated their brilliant fall colours. And my family said godbwye—goodbye—to my sister for the last time. Mary did not want any fuss, so family and friends stood at the edge of the Scattering Garden in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in London, Ontario as her ashes were scattered beneath her picture. And I sobbed. Saying a final goodbye is...
Read More
Follow Me!