See the Person
Back to School Cool
What it’s like to be a parent to a child with Down syndrome on the first day of school after most of summer camp didn’t go particularly well and you were regularly summoned from your work—pulled, wrenched from your work— when the phone rings because there is some problem with
Star Sleep
I woke up outside shy of 4:00 a.m., cold and in the dark, to a chorus of wolves yipping, barking and howling far off in the distance. I decided to rekindle the fire I lit before going to sleep. I pushed back my warm covers to a barrage of cool
New Beginnings
From every ending comes a new beginning. This phrase is tired, overused, cliched, but I can’t help but see a red sun sinking deep into the earth, the black of night, the moon a pearl in a quilt of stars; and then as though a God were fishing, the sun
The Archway
Our covered front porch is accentuated by three brick archways. From the viewpoint of standing on the porch, or arcade, each archway is like looking through a window. I found a new place to write. Sitting on a blue cushion in a wicker rocking chair on my covered front porch,
On Teaching: Demystifying the Memoir Workshop
In some ways, everything I’ve done to date, my educational pathway and life experiences, have prepared me to teach memoir and creative writing. Every tiny stream feeds into the river that’s brought me here. A joint major in French Literature (language, books!) and Psychology (the scientific study of the human
Two Truths
“Two things can be true at once,” a friend said to me recently. Her words, meant in consolation, have helped me immensely. I’m reeling, sobbing, sharp intakes of breath. But mostly, it isn’t like this. My tears arrive silently, unannounced, from the corners of my mind, floating to the surface
Give Me Change Worth Celebrating
An abridged version of this piece originally appeared in the Opinion section of The Toronto Star, October 27th, 2021. The last week of October is Canadian Down Syndrome Week. To the average Canadian, that might not mean very much, and likely for most, the cause for celebration has not registered
On Writing Retreats
On Writing Retreats. The first time I organized a writer’s retreat I did it because, as a mother to three young kids, I wanted the time and space to write. A word to the wise: if you want time and space to write, don’t organize a writing retreat and facilitate
