Living into the lessons of letting go…

Living into the lessons of letting go…

Summer has arrived on the prairies. The sun is shining and the day lilies are blooming. The tiger lilies will follow soon. I am weeding the garden beds to try to prevent anything from going to seed. And there is a part of me that cannot resist the beauty of dandelions...
Stretch marks on my soul…

Stretch marks on my soul…

With each of the babies I bore, my body changed. Only some of the changes were temporary. Years later, my hips are wider than they were before. My hair colour darkened. And there are silvery stretch marks over my abdomen and thighs, faded from their original bright...
When rising happens slowly, over years….

When rising happens slowly, over years….

I was listening to a podcast in the spring of 2020, three years after we lost Abbie. In a side story, the guest commented that someone once told her that the worst things take about twelve years to fully recover from. Hers was a long view that offered both consolation...
Breaking the ice in my soul…

Breaking the ice in my soul…

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay When I was small, I walked down our long lane at the farm to catch the bus on the big gravel road every morning. Every spring, I waited for the icy puddles to emerge from the snow banks. I walked down the lane in my...
The relationship between hope and ashes

The relationship between hope and ashes

The world is a hot mess right now. I am not sure there is a better way to say that. Everything feels upside down and unbelievable. Pope Francis declared a jubilee year of hope; now he’s praying for a world praying for him in a hospital bed. And this week, in my...