Making Peace With the Past

In December 1989, Marc Lépine killed 14 young women at Montreal’s École Polytechnique before taking his own life. For almost 20 years, Marc’s mother, Monique Lépine, lived like a fugitive, hounded by the media and shunning publicity. The tragedy at Montreal’s Dawson College in 2006, where one... 

With Faith Comes Passion

A growing child goes through clothes faster than Paris Hilton. That’s why parents usually have a donation bag of used clothes in their car trunk at all times. I’m no exception. I’m always on the lookout for a drop-box where I can unload my son’s latest cast-offs and benefit a good cause. Anything... 

Water, Water Everywhere?

It was an unusually hot and dry June. I was at the curb getting my mail when a neighbour approached me. “You’d better start watering,” he said in a huff, “your brown lawn is ruining the look of the whole block!” I smiled and replied, “I’m sorry, I like the look of green grass, too. But... 

“Mayday! We’re Going Down!”

“Mayday! Mayday!” the pilot radioed frantically, using the Cessna’s call sign. “Foxtrot Papa Papa Juliet. We’re going down, we’re going down, can anybody hear us?” I sat in the co-pilot’s seat and watched the willows whip past me. Our plane was about to crash on a frozen lake deep in... 

Treasure in Your Own Backyard

In the late 1800s, amid the searing heat of an African summer, a farmer stopped ploughing his field, wiped his brow and squinted at the horizon. What was he doing here, sweaty and miserable, staring at the south end of a north-bound mule? In the distance, a small band of adventurers were heading for... 

Life With Joshua

It was meant as a reward for good behaviour but when my son, Joshua, was confronted with row upon row of his favourite action figure at our local toy store, he went into sensory overload, which degenerated into kicking and screaming. I was in the middle of trying to calm him down when a woman passed... 

Memories of Dad

It was a Newfoundland morning best spent curled up under the blankets—thick fog, fine misty rain, cold easterly wind. But I could hear the family truck’s engine idling outside. I crept to the front room where I peered out the window, my nose pressed against the glass. Oren Cole and his father in... 

A Deal With God

In 1989, I was living on the streets of Vancouver, doing anything I could to survive, from petty theft to drug trafficking. I had moved there from my hometown of Barrie, Ont., three years earlier, attracted by the allure of Expo ’86. And after a troubled youth filled with alcoholism and drug addiction,... 

It’s Not Easy Being Green

Will Shrek reunite with the ogress of his dreams?By now, everyone knows Shrek, the green ogre who would like nothing better than to be left alone in his swamp. In Shrek (2001), he battled a dragon, butted heads with the evil ruler Lord Farquaad, made friends with a donkey and fell in love with the ogress... 

Freedom 85

Some find it not entirely coincidental that my mother passed away at the exact time a power plant in our town went up in flames. Given my reputation for mischief, several have asked exactly where I was at 6 a.m. that Monday. I was asleep in bed. I have a witness. Mom had been tired of this earth for... 

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