Life is Your Story

IT'S 1983 AND MY BROTHER CHUCK AND I ARE LATE FOR SCHOOL (AGAIN). FORTUNATELY FOR US AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR OUR MOTHER, WE HAVE THE KEYS TO HER CAR. OFF WE GO, ON A LONG ROAD TRIP (OF 5 MINUTES IN THE VAST LAND KNOWN AS COHEN -SAINT-LUC OR COTE-SAINT-LUC) TO WAGAR HIGH WHERE WE HAVE BEEN ATTENDING SCHOOL SINCE GRADE 8. CHUCK PULLS INTO THE LOT WITH A SIGN CLEARLY STATING "FOR TEACHERS ONLY" BECAUSE HE IS CHUCK. OUR FRIENDS (MOST OF WHOM WE HAVE IN COMMON) ARE STANDING AT THE SIDE ENTRANCE SMOKING CIGARETTES OR PRETENDING TO SMOKE CIGARETTES (MARLBORO RED PURCHASED ON A DAY TRIP TO PLATTSBURGH).  HOMEROOM IS GYM CLASS SO WE SNEAK IN WITH OUR SWEATPANTS OVER OUR JEANS AND START A SLOW JOG AMONGST OUR CLASSMATES WHO SHOWED UP ON TIME. MORNING DRAGS ON AND WE CAN'T WAIT FOR THE LUNCH BELL TO RING SO WE CAN SQUEEZE INTO ONE CAR AND HEAD TO LAFLEUR FOR A WELL BALANCED MEAL OF FRENCH FRIES (THAT WILL SWEAT PROFUSELY THROGH THE BROWN PAPER BAG). LATER IN THE AFTERNOON, AS LAST...

 I am walking along a path somewhere in the wilderness. I’m alone at first but then I feel someone’s presence, someone who vanished from my life. I think about all the people I have met and loved, yet there was nothing as intense, as omni-powerful as the connection of which I speak. Sometimes I wonder if some people are meant to only visit us once in our lives, because what they hold in their hands, their offering, is so sacred, so special that the moments of time, find it unbearable to hold onto them – to grasp them in their wholeness. So, I am on this walk and I have that feeling in my gut and I come around a bend and there he is, that person who vanished from this earth we walk upon and for whom I have waited to pass to the other side, so he can visit me in my dreams. But this is not a dream. This is not a hologram. This is not an illusion. This is him. This is what I have been waiting for, hoping for because I really never got to say a proper goodbye. I wasn’t there to kiss his...

    We all have events in our lives that imprint upon our memories. Some are happy, some are sad. We all have regrets of what was and what could have been. We all experience and surrender to love whether it is a lifetime commitment or a night of passion. Our memories are sparked by the scent of cooking, a song, a place we return to where we spent our childhood. While some of us walk a straight line (the job, the career, the partner, the kids, the house), others take detours. They travel the world, have various partners and live one day to the next.  The paths we take bring us to people and places where we settle, build a foundation and a LIFE THAT BECOMES OUR STORY. For over 20 years, I have been ghostwriting for those who want to share their life story. Whether in their twilight years or their prime, they all possess A SLICE OF BRILLIANCE.  Their life experiences are fascinating and through an intense interviewing process that takes sometimes a year or more, I am ab...

I’ve watched love walk out the door And watched it march right back in again I’ve mourned the loss of love Wondering where things went wrong Knowing when things stopped being right Sometimes I imagine there is someone on their way to me They missed their flight or they are sitting on a bench in the pouring rain waiting for a bus. They are somewhere in the stillness, in the in-between, the this and that, the here and there. Sometimes you are with someone They share your home They share your bed They play an integral role in your life But you feel completely alone You wonder how much longer you can stay And what would happen if you left Alone in love or no love at all                                               Photo by Luis Alfonso Orellana If you’ve been in love You know that sweet spot When everything is off the...

Of all the things we experience in our lifetimes - love is undeniably the most significant. Love gives and receives. It makes us feel alive even when we are near death. It's the one thing we can take with us because in the end; love departs hand in hand with our souls. When we are in crisis, the first thing we reach for is love. It provides an escape from our worries and obsessions as it wraps its arms around us and whispers "You are not alone - I will always walk beside you." Love knows us better than we know ourselves. Love leads us to where we are supposed to be on the purest and most intimate level. There are no rubber bands for love, no walks or bike rides, yet love is the force behind all of the causes that drive us to be there for our families and friends. So if you are feeling empty, remember that love is waiting around the corner to remind you why you are here. Go love and then love some more. For my parents  - For your parents -  th...

It's a long way from me to you Use to be so many ways  From me to you Now there's just one way There's just you There's just me And that's really no way From me to you There's this long country road I'm driving down with the window open I smell the air and I feel the wind against my face There's that crossroad you see in all the movies And you hear about in all the songs And as I stop the car, get out and look around I see the road I can continue heading down The other roads I can take To the left To the right To somewhere To nowhere I wait there in the hot sun with the wires buzzing and moths flying through the air I look over my shoulder I listen for any hint of the sound of your voice A sound I would know anywhere I stand there alone I stay until sundown Every hope, every wish, every dream of you suddenly appearing and telling me you love me and you miss me and you want ...

We all share pain The way we share love The way we share ourselves We all feel pain Some of us more than others We all understand pain We've all met pain Walked around the block with pain Joined it for coffee and a cigarette We all fear pain And loath pain And wish it would let us be No one should be alone in pain But so many are Pain visits us throughout our lives It's there at the end To remind us Of the good parts The sunsets The sunrises The kisses Being held Being loved We drift off Say goodbye Follow the steps Of one last dance And pray Wherever we go There is no such thing As pain

There’s a common ground between all of us and it starts with worrying. Everyone everywhere worries about something. We are born to worry. Some of us turn it off better than others but for the most part it’s always there in the back of your mind pulling at you. Health or lack thereof can especially bring on worry. It’s one of the most important things you can worry about. It’s something that you often have little control over but it can take control of you and your entire life in a fraction of a second. We worry about love. Love isn’t free and it isn’t all that you need but whatever you do have of it and no matter how much you have of it; you worry you will lose it. We all lose love and find love throughout our lifetimes. We give our love away and we take love often without really comprehending its value. We worry about our children from the time they are born until the time we leave this world and chances are that even when we are no longer here...

When you lie on top of me You give me shelter When you kiss me You give me fire When you hold me You give me lightning When you love me You give me sun Love me Hold me Touch me Kiss me Never leave me And my heart will beat  Like… Thunder beneath your hands

If you sit down on the grass in the sun with the wind quietly purposefully listening for spirits of souls you have loved you will hear them if you let your mind at ease and stop thinking they will come to you and speak with a whisper you will feel them in the tall grass with your fingertips their voices will tell you they miss you as much as you miss them they'll surround you before they leave you they won't tell you where they are going just that you can't follow you'll stand up and walk away and just when you think they will never return the wind will blow the sun will shine and somewhere in the distance you will hear a hum

Mourning is an odd thing because losing someone you love does not necessarily put you in a constant state of crying and depression. It actually lifts you in ways you have not been lifted before. And in the Jewish religion through the Shiva period, you are surrounded by people who truly care about you and in most cases knew the deceased and how many lives they touched. And anyone who has experienced this week of mourning can attest to the fact that you are so distracted from the fire roaring in your gut that you are able to carry on without falling apart right there and then. But at night after everyone has left and you return home you feel the loss and the pain envelop you and it won’t let you go. And accompanying that are those final images pulling you down under the water gasping for air. Sleep never comes and you feel lost and alone even if someone is right there beside you. There is an immense crevice of emptiness that cannot be filled. Mornings are just as t...