After

" We need a proper bridal party, Robert" I said as I was skimming through our massive guest list, trying to cull it down to something not so massive. It was early 2008. We were living in Coquitlam in the same apartment complex as Joe and our bagpiper friend, Mike. They were both looking for a place to live after Joe got home from his 2006 tour, and there was a place available in our complex so in they came. We enjoyed having them so near by.  Rob was in the kitchen making coffee, the news was on in the background - something about Prince Harry being in Afghanistan. "Pat & Joe. What's so un-proper about that?" he called out. I was unsurprised by his response. "How about the fact that my side would be huge and yours would be you three. Try again," I laughed. "Pat, Joe...Jeff?" he questioned, mentioning one of our old roommates and his mountain climbing partner. "I have the four ladies, but David is in the wedding party. You e...

Time. I wondered earlier what it would be like to have the power to slow it down, speed it up? Well, it turns out that in states of trauma, your mind does that on it's own. I remember when we lived with Joe, it was late at night so I was waiting at the bottom of this big hill at the bus loop for the bus to take me up the hill to our house. We didn't live in the safest of areas, so it was scary walking in the dark that late at night. Waiting for the bus, I watched as  a semi-truck that was at a stop light got the green light and proceeded to advance in to the intersection. Anyone who has been in a vehicle on the road knows how long it takes for bigger vehicles to start moving, so he couldn't have been going very fast when a Chevrolet Astro flew through the red light, getting t-boned. I ran to assist, not really ready for what I was about to see. I got my cell phone out and called 911 right away. I stayed on the phone with the operator as long as I needed to, but...

I fell in love at church camp with a boy named Rob who had eyes as green as emeralds. We were sixteen, and he wanted to join the Canadian Army. It was a strange feeling, because here I was convinced I had just met the boy I was going to marry, but...wait, Canada has an army? No, no, clearly I had misheard that because I was going to marry a lawyer, or a doctor...wasn't I? On July 28th, 2000, I stood and watched as this boy that I had only met a few months prior swore his life away. "I, Rob (full name here), do swear that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her heirs and successors according to law, in the Canadian Forces until lawfully release, that I will resist Her Majesty's enemies and cause Her Majesty's peace to be kept and maintained and that I will, in all matters pertaining to my service, faithfully discharge my duty. So help me God." I was so proud. I was so naive. I had no idea what this meant for...

“It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.”  ―  Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Time. If you are a Christian, the Bible has some pretty specific words about it. There is a time for everything, Ecclesiastes 3 says.  I'm tired of time.  Now, if it could stand still, speed up, show us the future....let us live moments of our past over again. If we could figure out how to harness that power, what would you do? I don't need to know my future, I'm happy where I am. I am thankful for the lessons my past has taught me, regardless of the pain that I felt at the time. Reliving the wonderful moments would be amazing. Sitting on the front porch of my grandmother's house in the hot interior summers, shaded by the giant willows, listening to thunderstorms with her. Running around at the playground behind my uncle's house w...