Assert Yourself, Gently…
Most people think being assertive is being aggressive. Actually, assertiveness is the capacity to express yourself, because you feel confident in your choice.
Coming Home
The Aunts who lived in the house on Montrose were the rock of the family, welcoming and nurturing all members, especially those deemed to be in need of their loving care.
Oh Canada!
Making a new life in a new country can be amazing, wonderful, scary, and sometimes traumatizing, but how you meet and beat those challenges can define you as a person and make you stronger. New immigrants and their progeny did just that when coming to Canada in the fifties.
When Is It Time To Move On?
There comes a point in a relationship when it’s time to move on – from a group, an old friend, a lover. How do you know when it’s time?
Hoarding or Savouring?
A kerbside collection day sparks fond musings about the things we hang on to and the reasons we do so.
Requited
A journey through a woman’s memory and a feminine understanding … by Melinda Cochrane
The Suppression of Male Tears
I was 13 years old. As one of the pallbearers, I stood at the end of the line, watching the casket sliding from the hearse. Suddenly, I felt weak. Grief rushed through me in a way I hadn’t known before. I turned away, just at the time when I should have been reaching up. My uncle turned and screamed something nasty at me. What exactly, I don’t remember. Only that “do your job” was tagged to the end of it. I didn’t forgive him for years for that, even though it was mostly a reaction out of fear that the casket would fall.
On My Dad’s upcoming 100th birthday
I’m allowed to brag a bit at this point because my father, Gerry Weiss, is about to turn 100, and if you can’t sound the trumpets then, when can you?
Best Friends
Jason, star athlete and gutless homophobe, receives a painful lesson in courage and friendship from an unexpected source.
Visiting a Dying Friend
During the visit, it was clear that Brian was fading. He tried to talk to us, but really couldn’t muster the strength to say anything coherently. I remember looking into his eyes, and saying “I miss our talks” and I’m almost sure he tried to say to me “Maybe we’ll have another.”
We never got another chance. He died Thursday.
