family

Read more about the article A very bad week

A very bad week

Life does not organize itself for our convenience or happiness. The past seven days have delivered two losses that have left my wife and I bereft.

Irene’s Mum, Celina, died on Thursday, November 28 after a brief stay in the ICU at Trail Hospital. My sister Judy passed on Tuesday, December 3 in the Agassiz Senior’s Community after a short couple of months of extreme decline from rapidly progressive dementia.

I’m trying to figure out how to deal with these events, bumbling my way through being supportive of other family members, and generally feeling quite lost and rather irrelevant.

(more…)

Continue ReadingA very bad week
Read more about the article Practicing gratitude…

Practicing gratitude…

It is Thanksgiving here in Canada this weekend. I really don’t think much about this holiday: Irene asked if we were making a special meal, and we agreed to order pizza later and save the big dinner thing for Christmas.

But I do often think about being grateful for what I have. I haven’t made a commitment yet to practicing daily gratitude or anything quite so progressive, but I do feel that making an effort to account for the benefits I receive in life is worth while. In that vein, here are a few things I’m grateful for at this point in 2024.

(more…)

Continue ReadingPracticing gratitude…

Famous

Years from now, someone will ask "Who is Kelly Adams? Was he ever famous?" And the answer will be "No, of course not. But his brother Ron was once on…

Continue ReadingFamous

The Barbeque

I didn’t write about this last weekend as Willow’s death kind of took the fun right out of me. But on July 17, I had the joy of having a big chunk of my family over at our house. Ron, Jessie, and the children; as well as Connie and Dennis were all in the lower mainland at the same time. I took the day off work and Irene and I invited folks over for a BBQ, and despite me being a bit out of sorts (my “day off work” turned out to be a “half day off work”) … I think things went pretty well.

(more…)

Continue ReadingThe Barbeque

Life marches on…


I remember spending a couple of summers on my Uncle George and Aunt Yvonne’s farm when I was about eight or ten years old. Two of my Uncles, George and Charlie Gillies, and my Grandma lived near Big Beaver, Saskatchewan. The family farm, split between the two brothers, had grown to several thousand acres from Grandpa’s original homestead. It sat on the American boarder…as I recall, the big “excitement” was going across the border to Scobey, Montana, to use their swimming pool or shop in the American stores.

(more…)

Continue ReadingLife marches on…

Visiting

The last couple of days I’ve been visiting with family.  That is, when I’m not playing new games on my XBox 360. 

My brother Ron, his wife Jessie, and their daughter Rebecca were passing through while on a vacation.  We spent the afternoon with the whole local clan at my Sister’s place on Saturday: Judy fed us salmon, and supplied Irene with her special wine.  On Monday Ron, Jessie, and ‘Becca came to our house for a few hours.  Rebecca played with our braver cats, and Iris met her first child.  She was apprehensive at first, but once we reminded Rebecca that cats aren’t fond of hugs, it was perfect.

(more…)

Continue ReadingVisiting

Happy Easter!


“Happy Easter” seems like a strange thing to say given the religious meaning of the holiday, but I’m not religious in any way so I’ll say it and not feel guilty.  For me, Easter is sort of like Thanksgiving: a time to give thanks for all the good things in life and to spend some time with family over a meal. 

(more…)

Continue ReadingHappy Easter!

Happy New Year!!


It’s a little past midnight, so that means it is now officially 2007 here on the Wet Coast.  Irene and I got back from Chilliwack about an hour ago, and my wife is already off in dreamland.  I’m sitting here in front of my computer with a glass of cognac at hand, pondering the deep imponderables.  Actually, I’m just experiencing a mild buzz from the cognac fumes as I upload a handful of photos from Judy and Bryan’s New Years fondue party.

(more…)

Continue ReadingHappy New Year!!

End of content

No more pages to load

Older Posts