Capturing the Times
Image by Esa Riutta from Pixabay On July 1, 1988, my mother, my sisters Kathleen and Mary, and Kathleen’s young daughters Tamara and Meghan, were enjoying a day of activity at the family camp of the Anglican Church’s retreat centre, Sorrento Centre, in a British Columbia valley. When evening came, and the exhausted little girls... Continue Reading →
I was a big drinker of milk well into my adult years. When I took a youth-hostelling trip to New Zealand in 1983, I loved getting my milk in the solid glass jars they had there. I said so once to an Auckland girl who was showing me around. “Why? How does milk come in... Continue Reading →
A Greek messenger runs through a Greek countryside with an important message. After a grueling twenty-six miles he finds the Athenian leaders and delivers his report: victory at Marathon! The Chief Athenian glances at his fax machine and says to the runner, “We heard already!” This was a 1970s commercial on TV when I was... Continue Reading →
On May 5, 1988, I wrote a letter to the CBC Radio morning show Morningside. At the time I was seven months pregnant, working as a temp at the reception desk of the Canadian Aviation Safety Board. Two or three weeks later, Morningside’s host, Peter Gzowski, read my letter on air. I wasn’t listening when... Continue Reading →
That day was October 18, 1929, the day on which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of England concluded that the word “persons” in section 24 of the British North America (BNA) Act does include women. The decision threw the door wide open for women in Canada to be appointed to the Senate and... Continue Reading →
Mom was the first in the family to do a lot of new things. 1) She was the original household emoji user Mom had to communicate many things to her four teenage children: directives, instructions, and affections any youth needs in order to be part of a household and also to manage life.... Continue Reading →
In a highly fictional past, at an uncertain place on earth (as depicted in the movie Quest for Fire): Naoh has been sent to find fire. He succeeds, but upon his return the flame extinguishes before he can hand it over to his tribe. They are crushed. Then Naoh announces (translation), “I can make fire!”... Continue Reading →
In 1972, my Dad and his sister Anne went to Ireland to visit their cousin Basil. They stayed on Basil’s family property near the town of Clones, in the far north of Ireland, anxiously close to the border of troubled Northern Ireland. Basil suspected that his farm foreman belonged to the IRA. One evening, Dad... Continue Reading →
My family attended St. Barnabas, St. Lambert’s Anglican Church. Sometime in the late 60s, my two sisters and I decided to join the junior choir. This choir, made up of children and teenagers, sang the full Book of Common Prayer liturgy, led the congregation authoritatively in all the hymns, and performed a weekly anthem in... Continue Reading →
On February 15, 1965, the new Canadian flag was raised for the first time on Parliament Hill. Of more immediate relevancy to my family, it was also raised – later in the year – over the Sarnia city hall. That’s where we lived. On that summer day, Mom and Dad and their four little children,... Continue Reading →
