First Person

One ice-cream shop can make a difference in a community - even in a big city like Toronto

It can be tough to make, and to keep, life-long friends

How a little black dress helped my sister discover breast cancer early

My self-imposed no-news rule changed my outlook on everything

Am I ready for a dog to fix my loneliness?

Our friendship grew stronger with each step walking through my hometown

I had to learn to stop romanticizing my life

A midlife foray into bouldering offers a new negotiation with fear

Years after she saved my life, I finally met my genetic twin

My mom’s copy of an Alice Munro book holds clues about a forbidden past

Life lessons from Lego-building with my dad

The joys of husking corn and making connections

Am I still a birdwatcher if I don’t care about what they are called?

My autism makes me who I am. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with me

I’m thickening around the middle. But I’ve lived long enough to be okay with that

Why is the house I couldn’t wait to leave now a fond memory?

I’ve just realized my grandkids are letting me win at games. Am I too old to play?

Losing my eye but gaining a new perspective on my life

This old elm could squish us all. It’s time to bring it down

A desk of one’s own is so important early in life

Do I carry intergenerational baggage while travelling with my parents?

It was strange to become a newlywed and a senior citizen in the same year

Using a cane made my disability more acceptable to strangers

When things go wrong at funerals, you just have to laugh

Retirement? There’s utopia and then there’s my reality

My long lost uncle became the key to embracing India on my own terms

Keep sending those first day of school photos, they take me back

My teenage boys don’t think I’m a warm and fuzzy mother, and I’m okay with that

It’s finally time to give up the cottage

Flowers never really captivated me until I saw a peony for the first time

Yes, pigeons in Italy are just as annoying as the ones at home

Building a community garden brought my neighbours together