When my brother was young, he would be the one to check the family before we went away on a holiday. "Did you unplug the iron?" he would say to our mother. "Is the stove off?" We could go once he was satisfied that nothing was left … Read more
This time of the year reminds me of the weeks when my husband and I volunteered at North Okanagan Valley Gleaners, a non-profit organization near Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. We spent our mornings cutting vegetables into chunks to be … Read more
One fall day, just before Thanksgiving, my husband and I were driving by a large organic food market. It was lunch time, and we were getting hungry. "Look! People are sitting outside with plates of food. Maybe we could get something at … Read more
When I was thirteen, our family visited Czechoslovakia, but I developed pneumonia after a lingering cold. Treatment there in those days was cautious: bed rest and penicillin shots. I was in bed for a month! I had never met any of my … Read more
Our youngest son, Nick, invited his parents on an annual family hike. His family likes to hike to waterfalls, and they have found new waterfalls to explore for the past several years. The hike has to be in the easy-to-moderate category to … Read more
It should have been easy to back the Ford Escape out of the garage. After all, it's half the size of our former Ford Expedition. With that big vehicle, I had figured out when to start and stop turning in the eight-metre space between the … Read more
My grandchildren and I were playing with a new set of Play-Doh the other day. The modelling compound was satisfyingly soft and pliable, and it was fun to work it into people and animals. Moulds came with the set, to be turned out into … Read more
My husband has a moderate-to-severe hearing loss and wears hearing aids. At first, they were the basic kind. As we drove in the car, he would complain, "You're talking to the windshield. I can't hear you." I would get impatient with this … Read more
Looking at a first-level workbook in the Accelerated Christian Education system, a high school student exclaimed, "Mrs. B, I want to do this work. It looks so easy!" To him it appeared easy, but to the first grader whose book it was, it … Read more
When my husband and I received our teaching degrees after five long years at the University of Victoria, we became qualified to teach at schools in British Columbia, Canada. We were able to sign up for interviews and to look for jobs in … Read more