Musings
About retirement… and random other things!
These blogs first appear as weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate
Revelations on the front step
Last week I briefly mentioned ‘the front step’ of my childhood home, and I’ve been thinking about that pivotal spot quite a bit since! It was a gathering place through the years, for sure. We sucked on homemade Tupperware Popsicles as young children, gossiped about school later on, lamented broken hearts, took countless photos – grad photos,...
The view before me
I was driving down one of my favourite riverside lanes the other day on the way to one of Red Deer’s amazing green spaces, when I had a glimpse of yesteryear out one side of my car and another of futurama out the other at precisely the same time. Moseying up the riverbed with his fishing rod and tackle box out the driver-side window was an...
Reaching 50th wedding anniversary and other anomalies
I had the loveliest time at my cousin’s 50th wedding anniversary gathering recently. It felt like one of those disappearing cultural milestones, like a mortgage burning party or converting your child’s bedroom to a sewing room when they finally leave home. Not all of us get there anymore, but we sure love to celebrate with those who do! The...
A writer’s lament
'I hand-delivered one of my manuscripts to Penguin Random House Ireland when my sister and I were in Dublin. No luck of the Irish - it was still rejected.' After last week’s column when I talked about my past fixation to be as accomplished as Margaret Atwood, I’ve had some people ask me about my writing journey. Well, many journalists and...
Be the judge of your own moments
I’m very glad I didn’t feel melancholy when I left my career, because apparently, that can be a common sentiment. I have that feeling about other things from time to time, of course, that homesick kind of pull at the heart that something is missing from a particular moment. I usually only have that sense of nostalgia for a time that has long...
Not missing the seriousness of a career
'Time to deprogram myself. I needed two hands to take my first selfie - hard to believe I came to be so attached to my iPhone.' I don’t take myself very seriously, as you can probably tell by now if you have been following along with this column. But I take my work seriously. I still spend a long time reflecting on my choice of words as I write,...
Permission to change your mind
I fell on my steps the other day. I had just finished an online meeting and had a few minutes before another one began, which was perfect timing because the person repairing my washing machine had finished at just that moment and I would be able to pay him, see him out the door, and get back to my home office before the second meeting started. It...
A generation of ideas
The Mayor of Red Deer read my recent column on volunteering and invited me to his office at City Hall for morning coffee, which is a very nice gesture for a new columnist to receive! He wanted to meet me, to exchange ideas about reaching the age demographic we are both part of, and to give me a letter of appreciation for my focus on volunteers...
Being a senior is subjective
I had a meeting in a town an hour away last week and while I was circling the small Main Street looking for parking, I saw a sign on a building that read: Seniors (45+) Activity Centre. When did 45 year-old people become seniors? Didn’t that used to be middle age? Maybe they needed to widen the net to attract a few more people for their...