This isn't a "reflections upon turning forty" post; that'll be the subject of a longer, more thoughtful, less slapdash piece I wasn't able to finish in time for my birthday itself, which was this past Sunday. As always, I had the best of intentions to have something polished and ready to go, but I was … Continue reading On the Button
I sew for many reasons—the pleasure, the satisfaction, the skills-building, the way it scratches an OCD itch. One of the biggest ones, though, if not the biggest, is to learn how to not just accept but also embrace my changing body. A body I've never felt at home in. A body I've never put much … Continue reading In Short(s)
I kind of hate the whole April Fool's Day thing. It left me on edge as a kid—would I wake up to find the classic plastic wrap over the toilet bowl, or would it be a booby-trapped-bedroom-door year?—and now, as an adult, I find little humour in the surge of joke-adjacent promotional emails that flood … Continue reading April, No Fool(ing)
It only occurred to me last night, a few days after the fact, that a two-year anniversary passed on March 7 (I think?) without my registering it. Two years and less than a week ago, I was discharged from the rehabilitation hospital and plopped back into real life. It’s now been two years, and I … Continue reading A Happily Missed Milestone
Last night just after 10:00 PM EST, I wheeled through the door, had a third dinner, unpacked because I'm constitutionally incapable of neglecting a bulging suitcase for more than thirty minutes, took a long bubble bath, then slept for eight hours straight, unheard of for me. I woke up disoriented in my own bed, half-expecting … Continue reading Same Same but Different
I’m writing this (and publishing it, if I manage to finish it quickly enough) while on a plane bound for Victoria, BC. It’s been six years since I last visited the city in which I was born and grew up. The long separation hasn’t been by choice; until now, my health’s made the trip unfeasible. … Continue reading Go West, Young Wheelchair
It was an unusually long summer and fall in Toronto, a period marked by eerily comfortable temps that lingered well into November and delayed the inevitable freeze of an Ontario winter. As much as I'm alarmed by what T-shirt-in-October days might signal, I was pretty fine with leaving my parka in the closet until weeks … Continue reading Trial by Snow
I resolved many years ago to stop with the New Year's resolutions and instead set and reset goals when it makes sense to do so. It's an approach that usually works for me, and it certainly served me well in 2024. New Year's nonetheless remains an obvious point at which to evaluate the previous twelve … Continue reading On the Eve of 2025
My husband and I woke up early last Thursday morning, puttered around the apartment, and took a cab to the airport. Several smooth hours later, we landed in Boston. Next was a drive to New Hampshire, where we visited friends for the weekend, going to Maine both Saturday and Sunday. Monday we spent in Boston; … Continue reading On the Road Again (Again)
Every six months or so, I decide to put more effort into managing and maintaining certain aspects of my appearance. Self-care of the physical sort, if you will. I have a wobbly track record in this department. It's not that I don't want to care about what I look like. I do—want to care, that … Continue reading Self-Caring
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 