Rattling the Bones

I wanted to start the New Year with an inspiring topic. Nothing came to mind until I offered my daughter an impromptu trip to Chicago just before the holidays. Her new boyfriend, KEV and his family were permanently leaving Canada for the U.S. A week before Christmas their house was packed up and the moving truck ready to go. Each member of KEV’s family was divided all over the Montreal area staying with family and friends; waiting for the 22nd so they could all drive down to Chicago together. KEV stayed at our house for a little over a week. A few days before his departure both KT and KEV were overly emotional and obviously upset with the idea of saying goodbye. They were undeniably ready and committed to a long distance relationship but they weren’t ready to be apart yet. It was clear to everyone that this was love at first sight; but what was sad was that as soon as they found each other they had to also say goodbye. It was interesting to watch both KEV and KT try to pack in...

My son CT is color blind. Looking back I realize how much of his life is actually centered on this theme. When he was three years old he often woke up in the middle of the night screaming because of nightmares. Many of the dreams were very vivid stories that came from a distant past. CT often talked about this little, black boy who he described in great length as if he was a close friend. This poor, black boy was beaten and eventually killed by the white man who enslaved his family. “What is negro?” CT asked remembering how the older white man had yelled this word at this boy as he searched to find him hidden underneath the stair case of a big dusty, old house. With every new nightmare during that year between 2 and 3 years old, we (my husband and I) cringed at the details that the dreaming revealed, this horrible story about how humanity can be horrible towards humanity. At first these amazing yet tragic events baffled us. We must have asked ourselves countless questions: · How could ...