Derek has a weekly breakfast with a bunch of guys he’s known since high school. One of them just had a pacemaker installed. Another, an emergency appendectomy. Still another will have to lie face down for weeks – WEEKS – after eye surgery to repair a detached retina. Four people we know have COVID-19. And all of this happened within the last week.
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It could be weeks before there’s a conclusion about the cause of Matthew Perry’s death on the weekend. Toxicology test results, whether there were any chemicals in his blood, take time. He had prescriptions for medications. But he clearly hadn’t relapsed into the waiting arms of his cruel addiction.
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I feel like a new butterfly, wriggling out of my covering after hanging upside down as a pupa for a long time. Allow me to explain.
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My back yard in the north Toronto neighbourhood of Willowdale was the closest thing to a cottage that I ever owned. It was private, fenced in, surrounded by cedars. I could enjoy the inground pool without feeling watched. On long weekends, it felt like the entire city emptied and headed for cottage country. I only had to open a sliding door to get there.
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This is Mike Sloan’s final resting place near Peterborough. It’s one of the perils of pre-planning – Mike died on Monday, very much in 2020. Mike had one persona before the rest of the country got to know him via his cancer fight. He developed another one, a better, more effective and loving one, afterward.
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CJBK morning co-host Loreena Dickson got married on the weekend. She invited the CJBK morning crew to the reception and I’m so grateful that I was included, despite being an ex-crew member.
…As we celebrate – in a row – our ninth anniversary, Derek’s birthday and Christmas, I’m bathed in gratitude.
…This is what a true friend does. She has her birthday twelve days before me, to make sure it’s safe for me to follow!  …
Saturday was hotter in London, Ontario than it was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai, that over-populated, but-it’s-a-dry-heat, desert playground, where 40C+ is the norm. Where millions of people hustle through the world’s tenth-busiest airport on their way to spend their wealth at luxury stores while the sun beats down with a relentless burn. No wonder we didn’t want to go outside. …
Honestly, I’m lost for words. But I do need to humble-brag for a moment and say that I predicted this day, aloud, to Erin and Rob some time ago, when they were in no frame of mind to hear it, really. …
When I told my brother about how I ended up with a mittful of Starbucks cards, he called it Ungifting and suggested I might be on the leading edge of a new trend. I’ll share the story and let you decide. …
This weekend gave us the opportunity to use fresh eyes to show our dear friend Eric around London. Â …
There are some things that forever change you. You’re one person before it occurs, and another person afterward. In my immediate family, it was the accidental death on Christmas Day of my uncle Caz, my Mom’s little brother, at just 34. Collectively, a generation before mine would have said that about the assassination of President Kennedy. You could also point to the date in 1997 when Princess Diana’s life was cut short. And, of course, 9/11. …
I had a lovely weekend away chez BFF Erin and BFFH Rob in their home on the lake. It just feels right to wake up and look out over the water first thing. Maybe it’s some sort of lizard-brain memory of crawling out of it millions of years ago. …
Hollywood as a whole expected Jennifer Aniston to get an Academy Award nomination for her starring role in the movie Cake. Unfortunately, she was passed over. Her character, Claire, is suffering from chronic pain and in a support group where she’s the only one who’s not all sunshine and sweetness. She hurts and she’s wearing her anger about it on the outside. …
Seems to me a good laugh is warranted at the end of this particularly challenging week. This comic strip reminds me of one of my favourite exchanges among many in the TV show Friends. Ross Geller, the paleontologist, is trying to explain evolution to Phoebe Snow, the air-headed, mystical musician. Phoebe challenges him and says, “it’s just an opinion”. Â Ross is nearly out of his mind with frustration and responds, “It’s a proven fact!” Phoebe retorts, “And that’s YOUR opinion!” Â …
It’s incredible how time slips away and before you know it a year has gone by between visits with two of your favourite people. That’s where hubby and I found ourselves when BFF Erin and AFL (amazing friend for life) Rob floated the idea of the two of us coming up for a weekend to see Chicago at Casino Rama. …
A hundred years ago when I started in radio and snagged my first full-time job in Red Deer, Alberta, a wonderful, quirky, hilarious newscaster took me in as her roommate.  This weekend that woman and I are finishing up her visit from Winnipeg and I’m grateful that she’s still in my life and as hilarious as ever. …