Have you ever composed and sent off what should have been a perfect document, only to find that a serious error either in spelling or word placement had taken place? Very frustrating! You have been there, too? I was preparing a PresbyCan … Read more

My summer home is both small and old — 30 years old this year. The appliances have all been updated, but the kitchen sink is original and sometimes hard to get clean. The other day, I scrubbed it with my favourite cleanser, but there were … Read more

In my younger years, I was focused on the busyness of daily life and had little interest in my heritage, but over the past twenty years or so, I've become much more interested in my genealogy. We have tools at our fingertips today that … Read more

As a young camp counsellor at Gracefield Christian camp, near Ottawa, Canada, I really enjoyed canoeing. I practised my J-stroke, carefully loaded the flat-bottomed aluminum canoes, and even learned how to right a tipped canoe in deep … Read more

I find working on a jigsaw puzzle to be fascinating, addictive, and annoying, all at the same time. My mother loved doing them while she still had vision, spending hours figuring out the edges, then the main images. It's even harder when … Read more

As an artist, I have been asked to paint portraits, sometimes of one who has passed as a remembrance for the family. I studied with an exceptional art teacher, who trained in the ateliers and museums of … Read more

While visiting the veterinarian recently, the receptionist asked me if I would like to see the cat house. I am not really a cat person, but my daughter is, and I knew that she would be interested in what they had to show me. The cat … Read more

I was thumbing through some black-and-white photos, taken 60 or more years ago, by my mum and dad: photos of themselves, their friends, and the small town where they grew up. Smiling faces looked back at me from skiing and skating parties … Read more

When we were children, my older brother excelled at assembling and painting model kits, mostly of military aircraft and vehicles. The small boxes, with vivid photos on top, contained small grey plastic pieces, glue, paint, and instructions … Read more

When I was a young child, I started to ask for a pony for my birthday. We lived in a town where there was a good-sized empty acreage across the road from our house. I thought that a pony could live there and that I could ride it every day. … Read more