Swipe Left

There are many things I love about the Christmas season. The music, the bright lights. The charming Christmas story. 

It’s the malls and the technology that seem out of place. Necessary, I suppose, but our kids and grandkids are 

missing a real treat ~ shoving me into the generationally challenged category ~ but that’s all right. I earned 

every second of these decades. If I hadn’t been from 

this technology barren time, 

I would have missed out on 

the Christmas catalogue. Do you remember 

Simpson Sears and Eaton’s catalogues? 

Eatons was “Canada’s Christmas Store”. 

Shiny colourful pages with beautiful models, 

airbrushed too perfectly at a time when that 

was okay. Full of everything a kid could 

want and more. Sleds, dolls, and toys some 

no longer on the market because of perceived 

or real danger. But for me I wanted to see 

the latest fashions, especially the New Year's 

gowns. Getting ideas for the next gowns

I would sketch and colour. I never could get 

past the same full skirt and strapless bodice. 

Paging through a cold screen with a swipe left, 

can't have the same thrill with childhood dreams 

and hopes. I do hope that when a child swipes 

left, they file in their memory the dream that 

wafted from the screen, making their generation 

one of wonder when swiping left 

has become a memory.

“Whether you shop in person or by ‘phone, you’ll find the people 

at Eaton’s friendly and helpful…in the true spirit of Christmas.”

From an Eaton’s Christmas Catalogue, 1960

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When You Can

It was never about making the right choices. How ever could I know the truth of each hour, 

of each day, and the years that would pass. It was, and is always, about honouring my 

mother who left us on this day in 1971. Seems such a long time but only a few hours 

ago. When I feel sadness, I know that hers was deeper; 

when I am tired, I know she 

was exhausted, and when I am despairing in my life, 

I know that her despair was chained to her. It was, 

and is always, about honouring my mother.

”I will love you even when I am dust on the wind.”

~Nalini Singh,  Archangel’s Blade

988: Suicide Crisis Helpline 24/7 anywhere in Canada

Time for Sleep

Few words have I

to tell you on this eve 

only words that say 

it’s time for sleep.

“Sleep is the best meditation.”

~ Dalai Lama