Standing in the grasslands with my once-in-a-lifetime grief
My work has slowed for the summer months. While that gives me plenty of time to work on the plethora of side projects that were left on the back burner, it also gives me too much time with my thoughts.
Do I belong in church?
It’s Sunday and I’m thinking about church. If you’ve known me in my adult life, you may think this is strange. I’ve had an aversion to structured religion since my late teens/early twenties. It wasn’t always like that. I grew up going to the Gaetz United Memorial Church in Red Deer. I participated in the youth events, went to Sunday school, and for a period I felt religion very deeply.
Opinion | How a late ADHD diagnosis let me find peace with myself
For nearly my entire life, my understanding of ADHD was wrapped around boys who couldn’t sit still and often had behavioural issues stemming from impulse control.
Beyond that, I didn’t know much. If I ever thought of what ADHD looked like in girls, I imagined the same characteristics. Kids who couldn’t sit in their chairs, lashed out at teachers, and were constantly on the cusp of failing.
Opinion | The family history I never knew: How being adopted hid a life-saving clue
Whenever a doctor asked about my family medical history, I waved it off with a flippant hand. As an adoptee from a closed adoption, I couldn’t answer. I would shrug and say, “I don’t know — I’m adopted.” I didn’t have any control over it, so I tried to let it go. How do you explain that your life began with a mystery?
Opinion | ‘My parents weren’t ashamed, they were worried.’ How getting diagnosed with ADHD as an adult brought me and my squirrelly brain peace of mind
“I specifically asked the class not to use scrap paper for this project, and this is what Shara turned in,” my Grade 5 teacher told my parents as she slid my art assignment across the table. My parents, who were also teachers, had carved out time after work to hear about the ways I was failing.
