Sophie's Story

     COVID-19 had changed so many things I can't name them all. In fact so many things were going on that the beginning of August snuck up on me. I realized that I had not planned my birthday lunch. This isn't like me. Normally I have my planning as far as guest list and restaurant done by 1 August. Not this year.    Fortunately, restaurants are offering dine in service again. C and I found one in Hudson that had good food and an option for outside dining. The next thing was going to be who I would invite. Some of the people I had invited in the past had moved. One person I had lost contact with. I couldn't invite my dear adopted grandma, Evie, because her health is too poor to risk getting COVID. I couldn't invite Ellen and Mac for the same reason. Dana had been exposed to the virus and was nervous about possibly infecting others unknowingly. I had to have lunch with someone. It's tradition. I just couldn't have a birthday and not take someone out to lunch. I c

     One time I was in a store and saw a small box. The box had a miniature figure of a man inside holding a bouquet of flowers. The outside of the box said 'Mr. Wonderful'. I suppose it was one of those gag presents that a single woman could get along with 'grow a date'. ( A sponge figure of a man holding flowers that you put into water. Once wet it gets larger although not life size.)   We are approaching our 16th wedding anniversary. Sixteen years ago this coming Friday, C and I stood among our family and friends and started this journey we are now on. As I contemplate this anniversary, I think about what makes Mr. Wonderful truly Mr. Wonderful.    I wasn't one of those girls who dreamed about what my future spouse would be like. I wasn't planning on getting married. Marriage was for beautiful women, tan, athletic and well versed in social graces. Someone who was tall, thin and looks amazing in white. Not someone who is short, stout, bookish, loves her job an

     While doing some organizing a few weeks ago I found a couple word search puzzle books. I bought them a long time ago. There were a few puzzles that I had completed, but most of the puzzles were unsolved.    I had completely forgotten that I like puzzles. Word searches are my favourite. I'm not a fan of crosswords because most of the time I can't figure out one word and that bothers me. I'm not good at math so sudoku is out. Word searches are perfect.    The books I found were actually variety word search puzzle books. This means that there are angle finds, square finds and word twists. In these special puzzles the words are not all in one straight line. Some of the words are in a square, some words are in a right angle and some words zig zag across the puzzle. The zig zag ones are the most challenging.     The puzzles have a theme. For instance one puzzle I did was all about Chad, the country in Africa. There are puzzles about food, travel, advertising terms, wildflowe

   One of the benefits of being a part time worker is that I'm not at work 40-60 hours a week. It means that I have more time to spend caring for my house and cat, doing volunteer work and spending time with people who matter to me. This was part of the reason I wanted to work part time. I was earning a good salary working full time, but I was missing out on life. I was either too tired or scheduled to work which meant I missed a lot of important things. Once C and I realized that as long as we are careful we can live quite comfortably on a part time wage, the desire to work full time on a regular basis left me. (Of course I can and do work 40 hour weeks to cover vacations and other emergencies.)     Another benefit is that means my "weekends" are whenever I want them. I'm not just stuck with Saturday and Sunday. That's really nice especially this time of year when the weather is too nice to stay indoors. This means that whenever the weather is nice enough and I d

   A few months ago, during a round of Table Topics, I was asked what my greatest accomplishment was. I wasn't sure how to answer. I'm not sure I accomplished anything great. I didn't set any records in school. I didn't invent anything or accomplish any extraordinary feat. Then it came to me.   I got three pieces of paper. I'll explain.   When I was in grade school, I had to take some special education classes. I still remember what the program was called. It was SLBP, special learning and behaviour problems. These days I would have been classified as a special needs student. While I am grateful for the extra help I received from gifted and kind teachers, putting me in those classes gave me a label. I was a retard. That meant I was fair game to be picked on and teased. No big deal. Kids being kids. At that time no one knew what bullying does to the victim. No one cared. It was no big deal.    I was bullied from fourth grade until twelfth grade. Had I had access to f