Purple means I Love You

At least, that's what it means to my mom.

Her favourite colour is purple.  So in anticipation of her visit here, my brother and I painted our spare room a very delicate, pale lilac - which incidentally is also her favourite flower.  What perfect timing that it blooms around the same time as Mother's Day.

This spring, we haven't been getting that much sun, so the lilacs were a little late.  But it's still perfect timing because Mom is arriving today, just when all the neighbourhood lilac trees are finally coming into bloom.

In fact there's a spray in a vase by her bed waiting for her.

I found these great frames at Home Sense.  The photos are ones I took last summer in Quebec. 

New shopping bag, all ready to go!




Purple means I Love You




Welcome to my new neighbourhood

Actually it’s not quite so new to me.  My grandparents and aunts lived in this area years ago, when they first came to Canada, and when I visited them here for the first time as a little girl of eight years old, my grandfather and I would take the dog for long walks along these leafy streets and lanes.  Sometimes, when we were feeling particularly adventurous, we would wander into the woods and go exploring.  It was spring then, too, and my memories of those times are filled with the sharp fragrant tang of cedar, cool rain, sun-dappled leaves and the sound of clear running water.  

Later, when my parents and siblings and I immigrated to Canada ourselves, we ended up living for some years not far from the place where my grandparents had lived.  Our house was near the river, and on summer weekend afternoons we would take picnic suppers down to the park on the water and sit in the sun and watch the tug boats go by.

And now, here I am again.  I learned how to drive in these streets, walked home from this train station on fine days, used to go shopping and watch movies at this mall with my mom and my sisters.  

So moving here has felt a little bit like coming home.

And it’s wonderfully comforting to know that in the midst of big changes, there are some things that you can come back to and find that they’ve stayed the same.




Welcome to my new neighbourhood




An examination of conscience

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but delights in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

I came across this Bible verse today and was reminded of the time I heard it read aloud at a wedding and commented upon later by the priest during his homily. His advice to the couple - to all of us - was, "Keep this verse by your bed and read it every night, with one difference: put in your own name wherever it says 'love'."

Try it yourself, and see if you don't feel like you've looked in a mirror to find that warts have sprouted all over your face. It can give you a nasty shock at first - but seeing the warts is the first step towards removing them. That's what examining our conscience is all about.

And whatever we have on our conscience, let's remember this season is all about renewal and revival - a great time to begin again. If Mr. Pat Barker could make the effort to make things right with his life, then so can we. Read his story here for a dose of inspiration.




An examination of conscience