Abuse has no place in love — “I’ll miss you.” I cried as I hugged my boyfriend, Donnie, goodbye. At 17, I was both excited and nervous about boarding a KLM plane to the Netherlands with my cousin, Angela. Once we arrived in Holland, our aunt picked us up at the airport. We divided our vacation between…

Joy and tears can go together — When I was still in high school, my eldest brother, Roger, moved back into the basement of our parent’s home. He brought his young wife, Julie, and their newborn, Benjamin. They planned to stay until they had enough money saved for a down payment on their own house. Benjamin had…

“Who drove home last night?” I asked my friend on the phone. “You did!” In the 80s, it wasn’t unusual for teenagers to pick the driver who seemed the least impaired to drive home after a night at the bars. Although Peterborough, Ontario was a relatively small town, it had…

A teenager’s prayer is answered — The first time I participated in the pass-out challenge, my friend slid down the wall sideways and smacked her head against the vacuum cleaner. That should’ve been enough to stop me from ever participating in the “game” again. …

My teenage experience with psychedelic drugs — We boarded the yellow school bus and headed for the back seats. Our bus was one of two that would be leaving our high school parking lot to travel the highways from Peterborough to Toronto to catch a Blue Jay’s baseball game. We giggled as my girlfriends passed around a…

And other superstitions surrounding death — “Is that bird Talia?” my great-nephew asked. “No, no. The pretty red cardinal symbolizes her saying hello from heaven,” I explained. He scrunched up his nose and raised an eyebrow. But when I went to try and explain further, he had already turned his attention back to his little brother. …

And why I believe that being in nature alone can’t replace it — Years ago, my small church group studied Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God by Gary L Thomas. In his book, Thomas highlights a variety of ways that we can worship and connect with God, specific to our temperament and personality. He shares nine spiritual temperaments or sacred pathways: …