I like Valentine’s Day as a whimsical celebration that brightens up a cold mid-February day. It provides the perfect excuse to temporarily break any New Year’s resolutions to swear off sugar, and instead happily indulge in a decadent square of salted caramel chocolate. Yet, for…
I have done a dizzying amount of travel in the past 15 months for a gal who rarely makes it out of her attic office. In the summer of 2016, we took a family trip to Greece. Then, I tagged along with John to England…
In the fall of 2005, my sister and I visited our family cottage with my dad. He was dying and wanted to go there for the last time with his daughters. As we sat in the small living room, autumn leaves falling outside on a…
It’s summer! Are you in a new relationship and visiting your partner’s parents’ cottage for the first time? Or, perhaps you’ve been in a relationship for a while and are getting ready for a return visit? My recently published column in eHarmony Canada is just…
I went to Niagara Falls years ago when my kids were playing competitive basketball. Perhaps it’s not the best “mommy” behaviour to admit that I don’t hold any nostalgia for those weekends away. Staying in discounted chain hotels with hundreds of teenagers, eating at family…
I was a flower girl at my Aunt Julie and Uncle Nick’s wedding 50 years ago. I don’t remember much other than the feeling of their nuptials being a very important occasion, and running around the fancy tables at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal…
My dad died a decade ago—on the sixth day of the six month of the year ’06. Before his service, the funeral director took my two sons aside and invited them to write letters to place in his coffin. It was a way to give…
Are you planning your first vacation as a couple? YAY, what a great step in your relationship. There is no better way to really get to know someone than spending concentrated time together, outside of your natural habitat. Unfortunately, for too many couples, their vacation…
After decades of marriage, I can predict what my husband will get me this Valentine’s Day. It is the same every year. He writes a cute saying on a blank card, and places it next to a small box of artisanal chocolate for me to…
Last year at exactly this time I firmly decided, “Nope. I am not setting myself up for another year of failure by making New Year’s resolutions.” You see, I used to be in the 40% group of people who do. For years and years, I…