Facebook, I will miss you

Jan 1, 2021 | Connection, Lifestyle

Really, I will. I will miss Facebook for lots of reasons: no more sending or receiving birthday wishes; no more saying ‘Congrats’ or posting heart and thumbs up symbols. No more laughing until I pee myself at posted videos, like the one with two drunk grandmothers on...

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Happy 23rd Birthday! 

Jul 14, 2020 | Connection, Family, Home, Love

Dearest Fionn, Another birthday! Another yearly letter from me extolling your beauty, your virtues and your intelligence. When I was 23, I was traipsing across the province selling porcelain windchimes at art shows. Totally broke and, in looking back, having a...

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Happy Anniversary!

Jul 8, 2020 | Family, Love

Happy Anniversary to my one-of-a-kind husband, Douglas Wilson McKercher (with photography and design thanks to our very talented daughter Caitlin Brookes. The apple didn’t fall far from the...

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The power of a small act of kindness

Feb 1, 2020 | Family, Home, Lifestyle, Ottawa, Transitions

        Have you ever had a dream come true? And have it all owed to one little thoughtful gesture from a complete stranger? Someone you’ve never even met or talked to? I have. Let me tell you the story. I always knew our current home, 1819 Lorraine Ave. would not be...

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Confronting the past with the hope of good

May 22, 2019 | Books

When Catherine McKercher decided to retire from Carleton University in 2014 after teaching journalism for 27 years, she wasn’t thinking about what she was going to “do,” as everyone liked to ask. ”I was thinking of just “being” rather than “doing,” she says. Until...

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Brenda’s Wondrous Adventure

Mar 13, 2019 | Lifestyle

How nice to celebrate a good friend! I met Brenda O’Farrell in my first year of journalism in 1983 at Concordia University. She was 19. I was 25. She was an early bloomer and I was a late one. We’ve remained fast friends ever since, although there have been some gaps...

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Be afraid! The dangers of doing nothing

Feb 21, 2019 | Lifestyle

That was interesting. I made an unplanned trip to Starbucks at lunch the other day. I didn’t have my phone, a newspaper, book or magazine, or a pen and piece of paper. There was nothing to do but sit there while I sipped my latte and nibbled on a blueberry bar....

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How alcohol helped my marriage

Feb 15, 2019 | Love, Uncategorized

I’ve written about how Doug and I met previously, but not on my blog. So what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with that story? I fell in love with Douglas McKercher’s face as soon as my Chardonnay-soaked eyes locked onto it. Irene’s Pub, Bank Street,...

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What do you think? Did I get my $50 back?

Feb 5, 2019 | Uncategorized

I had a nice thing happen to me on Christmas Eve. I was sitting in the drugstore close to 4 p.m. waiting to get a flu shot. It wasn’t going to be a long wait but I happily grabbed a magazine and settled in a chair. No hurry. Everything in hand for Christmas. Time to...

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Why do we get attached to “things?”

Jan 28, 2019 | Connection

You know the gold branch you just put in that nice vase on the table downstairs?” my husband asks nonchalantly. “Yeah,” I reply, still recovering from getting out of bed. “It might not have been a great idea to put it there.” My first thought is SHIT! “Why? What...

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