Victim Impact Statement on the loss of Abbie Speir

Victim Impact Statement on the loss of Abbie Speir

Delivered in memory of Abbie Speir at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina, Saskatchewan on July 23, 2020, at the Sentencing Hearing for Kevin Obina Okafor. So often, in the days since you took Abbie’s life, Kevin, people have said that they cannot imagine what...
The Space Created by Love…

The Space Created by Love…

Space is not a word I associated with love for most of my life. I grew up longing for the freedom of stretching further away from the intimacy of my family and small, Saskatchewan town. I sat in the farm house window sill in my bedroom, staring up at the expansive,...
When I need to remember there is beauty here…

When I need to remember there is beauty here…

Photo by Darryl Millette Beauty surprised me last week when I walked out to the car with a small hand in mine last week: “Mommy, the road is sparkling!” Charlize’s awe caught in my throat. Sunlight and snow make the most glorious glitter with no purchase or clean up...
Assumptions and measuring the weather in my world

Assumptions and measuring the weather in my world

Weather was at the front of my mind as I headed out to the lake for the long weekend in July with four kids in tow while my husband was away working. Temperature, sunshine, rain, and wind speeds affect packing and planning, and perhaps most significantly, our moods....
Joy is actually dangerous, and I need to do it anyway

Joy is actually dangerous, and I need to do it anyway

Joy is an Easter feeling and a virtue in my faith tradition. For reasons fairly obvious to me, it is not the leading line in any description anyone would ever write about me. After all the fasting and sacrifice of Lent, I am worn out before the fifty days of Easter...