Sister Triangle Article

Leslie Dempsey In the spring of 2014, my Mother, who was 90 at the time, was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth. She endured a very extensive surgery to remove part of her cheek, tongue, and throat. My brother, Bill, and his wife lovingly took her into their home to care for her during her recovery. Bill’s retirement last year allowed him to spend quality time with Mom daily: having discussions, reminiscing, and making new memories. Over the past year, Mom’s short term memory has faded. Bill shows such patience and understanding, and reassures her over and over. Earlier this…

Sara Pippus Driving through the Black Hills this past summer, we finished up our holidays surrounded by great rock formations and lush forests. What a fantastic place to explore hiking trails and large stretches of forest. Now and again, around the bends in the road, would be large gaps in the forest. Trunks of trees stripped bare of bark and large stretches of charred land left little of the former beauty. Forest fires, old and new, make their way indiscriminately through these old growth forests each summer. Fire tragedy seems to have no upside and the scar left on the…

Charlotte Kowalson On Labour Day weekend, I had some of my usual gang over for lunch and then to stay to watch the football game. Lunch was the kid’s favourite – chicken strips and my husband’s homemade fries. The kid’s mom, Selena, brought the dessert-a chocolate, quick oats, and coconut confection that we all call fiddle-diddles – an absolute favourite of all, and because we were all going to watch the game she brought lots of cookies, about four dozen for eight people! Everyone had also brought their own snacks and, of course, there were lots of cookies left over…

Janelle Ross It’s not like having the flu or a cold, where I know I will get better, but chances are I’ll get sick again, one day. It’s not like when I cut my hair short for the last time and I said to my friends this will be it because I’m past that age and I’ll never have long hair again. Or the time I graduated from school and said no more to the books and the learning. Or the time I carried that second child in my belly, thinking he would be the last. It’s not even like…

Mary Muirhead Listening to the CBC, I overheard a conversation with a young man who had just written a book. OK, there are lots of new books out there, but my ears perked up when he mentioned his Buddhist upbringing. His family had stressed the importance of being helpful and useful to others; in fact, the message of his book was to point out the importance of our everyday contacts as we go about doing what we do. I think we all agree with him; we know this. We have heard, and perhaps have ourselves told stories of kind words…

Glenda Jacobs When Walking with Our Sisters came to Red Deer, Alberta, it was one of those events that happen once in a lifetime; it changed not only me, but also my community.  For nine months, we prepared for the sisters to arrive. For my settler descendant community, it was an art installation at our museum; for the aboriginal community, it was ceremony which brought an opportunity for healing. Walking with Our Sisters was created to raise awareness and action about murdered and missing Aboriginal women and children. In the installation, each woman and girl is recognized by vamps, which…

Andrea Muirhead A few years ago I heard one my friends talking about something that he referred to as “First World Problems.” These are the things in life like complaining about your slow Wi-Fi connection, or your bottled water being warm, modern conveniences that we take for granted and then we complain about them. I appreciate that I live in Canada. I am thankful for more than one set of clothing and more than one pair of shoes. I am grateful for my education, my family, my friends, and the freedom to be a Christian. Fall is a great time…

Jen Cook I have been married now for six months. My husband and I dated for about 3 years before we got married. I always used to look at those women who nagged at or berated their husbands and thought, “I will never be like that.” I thought the bitter wife scriptures and being submissive to your husband scriptures would not be an issue for me. Despite my 30 years of singleness and years of dating before marriage, I am those women I used to pity. I am having a truly hard time being kind, sweet, and submissive to my…

Sara Pippus “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings” – Lao Tzu Setting out early, he smiled a warm smile as he saw the sign for the Boreal trail. This spot was special. He had taken many a long stroll through the high pines and trembling aspens. Over the years, he walked it alone but more often he held the hand of a grandchild or listened to one of his daughters tell stories as they wandered through the curves in the trail. Now the path narrowed into the moist morning air as he looked for the boat he left…

Janelle Ross There is a scene in one of the episodes of the television show Friends (The One with Ross’s Wedding, Part 1, if you’re a fan). The gang is in London, England, and Joey and Chandler are about to head out to see the sights. Joey pulls out a map and when he opens it, the tourist attractions pop up like they might in a children’s book. After trying for a few unsuccessful minutes to figure out where he wants to go, he simply puts the map on the ground and steps right into it. Chandler is embarrassed by Joey’s…