by Linda Stuart | Apr 26, 2016 | Life's Journey
“One day, you’ll miss this time.” she said, “They grow up so quickly.” Exasperated with my two young sons, one of whom was temper-tantruming in the grocery cart, I looked up in disbelief at the woman who stood in line in front of me. Really? I would miss changing...
by Linda Stuart | Apr 17, 2016 | Funerals, Death, and Dying, Ritual Moments
“Linda!” my mother shouted from the kitchen. “Come quickly–something’s wrong with George!” Like many eight-year-old girls, I had pleaded for a puppy (a pony would have also worked). But my Dad had brought home George instead, and it...
by Linda Stuart | Mar 31, 2016 | Funerals, Death, and Dying
In her dresser drawer, they discovered a hand-written note that read, “When I die, please do nothing.” She had just taken her last breath. And so began the distressing dilemma that many families face: Honouring their loved-one’s request to do nothing or...
by Linda Stuart | Feb 10, 2016 | Funerals, Death, and Dying
With sleep-filled eyes and a shaky voice, her small index finger extended in my direction. “I…don’t…like…you,” she announced. Apparently, my plan to win her over with a green stretchy bracelet had failed miserably. Attempting to veil my...
by Linda Stuart | Feb 10, 2016 | Ritual Moments
I heard the key rattle in the front door and bolted from the kitchen table. Cartwheeling (for real) my way down the hall to the front door, I arrived just in time to leap into his arms. My Dad was home. A self-proclaimed “Daddy’s Girl,” I have always adored him. I’m...
