Tag Archives: family

A recent couple of conversations reminded me of how people find different ways to cope with trauma. The brain can introduce a kind of amnesia to block out emotionally shattering events. After a particularly loaded discussion, my friend said that she remembered so many painful things, that what surprised her …

Everyone has their particular memory of childhood Christmas. It is one of those universally observed seasons that is inescapable. Even if you belong to a community that ignores or abhors it, the very act of spurning the commemoration leaves an impression of some sort. The month of December is probably …

I came across this column I wrote in 1998, and for some reason it felt so relevant that I thought I would share this trimmed version (with a Billy Joel headline). When I quit full-time work, a major factor had been the desire to spend more time with my infant …

I was searching for words to describe how I might come across in this column—killjoy, grinch, scrooge—because I know they might easily seem to apply. Maybe it is the cynic in me; maybe I am just perverse, but I have always been unmoved by the hype surrounding certain celebrations. I …

Ask people what it is that makes certain meals so special for them, and I bet that when they reflect they will say it is because it invokes some warm memory from childhood. Hardly is it connected to a lavish spread—it has more to do with its homely nature. The …

I have always misunderstood marshmallows. Never quite got their popularity. In the old days, they popped up mostly around Christmas time, along with butter cookies and other treats. I’ve since discovered that they are actually made up of 90 per cent sugar, but that had nothing to do with my …

Of all the festive days in our calendar—and we have so many—the only one that has genuine significance for me is Old Year’s Day. Nothing to do with the expectations and hopes that accompany heralding a new year. I believe that every day is just 24 hours apart from another, …

Like a passing cloud, our discussions about the SEA performance of our children have come and dissipated. While we anticipated that there would be some learning loss due to the effects of Covid on our schools and our children’s education, the results are astounding.  In every tier of the results, …

Not unlike Shadow’s Bassman, Mystic Prowler in mih head, pleading with people to look beneath the surface. I have just read Vaneisa Baksh’s ‘Sins of the Father’ column. And not for the first time, I have told myself I’m not going to read her stuff. Not for the first time, …

I’ve been repeatedly invoking my belief that the clues to adult behaviour lie along the childhood spectrum. When I recollect my past in these columns, the responses tell me that I am touching chords. Many have written and called to share how they too have been affected.  I am always …

Here we are, into 2021, and probably wondering what we will make of it. We can be sure that it will be difficult and challenging on all fronts. The variable will be our individual responses. That’s the element that can yield the widest range of outcomes. Every year, we routinely …

The following is an edited version of the eulogy delivered by Wired868 Editor Earl Best at the funeral of his brother, Clyde, who passed away on October 20 at the age of 80 and was buried on October 27. Triskaidekaphobia is a big word which means “fear of the number …