Tag: family
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And Then There Were Two
June, the last week especially, went by in a whirlwind. Our daughter flew in to attend our granddaughter’s Grade 8 farewell celebration and, the next day, they both boarded a plane and headed home to Kamloops. With no Yorkies in residence at the moment and a granddaughter gone home with her mama, Gerry and I…
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Friday’s Fave Five – May 19
It’s early Friday morning. The smoke we were under has dissipated and the sky is clear; we’re in for a great day. Makiya doesn’t have school today and it feels a bit like Saturday. Funny how one small change in routine creates such ripples. I’m tired. Bone weary tired. I feel it in my body…
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Cousin Connections
Yesterday, as I was looking through a bin of old photos for pictures of my mom, I came across some taken of my cousins here in Moose Jaw a lifetime ago. These two are the only cousins I have real childhood memories of; we lost touch, for the most part, after my family left Saskatchewan.…
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The Coronation
It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m tired. I stayed up too late last night waiting until it was time to pick Makiya up from the youth center she goes to on the weekend. Gerry and I have an arrangement: I get up early with the dog, and he stays up late, as required, for the granddaughter.…
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What a Week
This week has gone by in a blur of both the expected and unexpected, with a healthy measure of good things and a dose of not-so-good. I’m kinda glad it’s over. I had a coffee visit with a woman who, as a teenager, lived with my birth sister’s family for a few years here in…
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A Gray Day
It is gray and raining. We are still under a winter storm watch, but the above-freezing temperatures give me cause to believe it won’t amount to much here in Moose Jaw. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic—time will tell. It’s likely to be a different story east of us. The gloom of this morning matches my…
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Everybody’s Talking
It’s Monday after a week of Makiya being off school for Easter break and we’re back on what seems like a bit of a treadmill today. Gerry drove her to school, came home, and picked me up. I drove him to the rec center, then came home and got a few things done. I went…
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Not a Bad Gig
This is the view from my car every afternoon around 3:25 p.m. when I join the line of cars waiting to pick up kiddos from school, now and for the foreseeable future. Caronport is about a 20-minute drive from Moose Jaw. Every weekday afternoon I am presented with a choice: go up memory-laden Main Street…
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Now There Are Three Of Us (and a Yorkie)
Our daughter pulled out early this morning, driving a U-Haul and towing her car, heading for B.C. and a new job. There were tears, long hugs, and bittersweet gratitude. Now there are three of us living in this home, as our granddaughter settles in to stay with us for a time. We’re back to early…
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Changing Times
It’s the last weekend before the official start of spring. Any way you slice it, in whatever part of the country you live—that’s cause to celebrate. Even here in Saskatchewan, we’re feeling it. After last weekend’s storm (when Cranky Old Man Winter gave his all for one last blizzardy blast), I believe the worst is…
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Where I’m From
I’m restless today. The project that has consumed much of my time lately, Living Liminal: A Slice of Pandemic Life, is about to be released into the world and I feel at loose ends. Conventional publishing wisdom would have me already switched into marketing mode by this point, but I decided long ago that this…
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Let the Painting Begin!
It’s Tuesday, but feels like Monday. Yesterday was Family Day, and a holiday, here in Saskatchewan and many other Canadian provinces. The girls came for dinner and we enjoyed rousing games of cribbage and Kamloopsopoly before digging into one of Makiya’s favourite meals—African sweet potato stew and naan bread. Every day’s a holiday when you’re…