OK folks, it’s time for cozy winter evenings—snuggling up on sofas, with warm, fragrant drinks that fill you with good thoughts and cheer. Use this recipe to keep that holiday feeling for a while, or use it tonight as you ring in the New Year. You’ll need: · A litre of apple juice · A […]

At the end of 1989 I remember thinking, “Once again another year has come to an end and I’m on the verge of a new decade.” It had been difficult for me to review ’89 because I automatically thought of Cindy’s death. And that hadn’t occurred until the end of May yet the first 4¾ […]

This holiday season I was brought to tears when I opened a gift on Christmas morning from people I have never met. Such thoughtfulness and generosity from “strangers” blew me away. (Strangers no more – thanks Dwight and Dean.) It was a hand painted canvas, based on the designs of Rhonda Kullberg (a Canadian artist), […]

I was feeling very peaceful until I heard that a suicide bomber assassinated Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, today, as she waved to a crowd of supporters. Now, amid political unrest, there is rioting in the streets of Pakistan. People are looking for ways to target their anger and their unshakeable and acute rage–an […]

Blessings to each of you. May you receive in ten-fold all the love and caring that you willingly give to others. I hope you realize how special you are and how you are valued.

I fondly remember the Christmas’s that my children strung together plain popcorn and fresh cranberries into long, colorful swags to hang on the tree, along the mantelpiece, or in the windows. After the holidays we hung the strings outside for the birds to enjoy. And we’ve turned many an old holiday card into gift tags, […]

Just before Christmas in the year that my sister, Cindy James, died, my mom wrote to me that two of my three brothers would be with my parents on the 26th of December. (I was living in Whitehorse, Canada—far away from all 6 immediate family members.) And my sister, Marlene, who lived back east, wrote […]

  When death must come at Christmastime, There is a special grief, A mourning that must mix with joy, A pain that must be brief. There is an anguish underneath The labyrinth of light That longs for simple emptiness To contemplate the night. But life must bubble on its way And pleasure be put on, […]

A compliment. Silence. A laugh. A walk, either in the crisp snow or rain. Make a snow angel. Surprise someone. Leave a quarter (or more) where someone will find it. Help someone who’s stuck in the snow. Watch the sunset or sunrise. Hide a love note for a loved one to find. Look at old […]

Healing involves being willing to hurt more in order to hurt much less. Melanie Hack Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend Read an excerpt now TV Shows and Clips about the death of Cindy James