by Heather Plett | Apr 26, 2005 | Uncategorized
And then one day
“yub-yub” or “pla-ba” becomes “peanut butter”
“PT” becomes “TV”
“spa-ba-dee-dee” becomes “Sponge Bob Square Pants” (yeah, I know, go figure!)
“Ju-ju” becomes “Julie”
“kee-kee-kie” becomes “Lizzy McQuire” (she’s got older sisters!)
And somewhere along the line you realize your three year old is growing up. You expect it, even welcome it, with the first two. But with the third and last, for some reason, you just want to hang onto it a little longer.
But then today when she heard the radio announcer say “House of Commons” she said “House of GUM? How could anybody do THAT?” So all is not lost đ
by Heather Plett | Apr 22, 2005 | Uncategorized
Iâve been thinking lately about the things in life that shape us â those events along the journey that mold us into what we become.
In the span of the last 2 weeks, Iâve visited several blogs that have sent me back in my memory to significant âlife-shapingâ moments. First it was a blog of someone whoâd lost a parent in the last 2 years. I could relate to that one â I lost my Dad less than 2 years ago. Then it was a blog of someone whose friend was dealing with her husbandâs suicide attempt. I could relate to that one too. Nearly 10 years ago, when I was pregnant with our first child, Marcel went through a really rough time and thought Iâd be better off without him. Thankfully he survived the attempt. And then, within the last week, I visited the heart-wrenching blog of someone whoâd lost a baby. Once again â I could relate. My son Matthew was born dead a few years ago. I havenât found a blog of someone whoâs been raped, but if I did, I could relate there too.
Sometimes, it feels like Iâve been given more than my fair share of pain. But, havenât we all? There are so many kinds of painâŚin my family alone weâve had to deal with infertility, loneliness, depression, cancer, death, failed adoption, mental handicap, unemployment, divorce, near bankruptcyâŚand the list could go on and on. There is pain everywhere and everyone gets a piece of it. Yours might not be the obvious kind â linked to a significant event or cause â but itâs pain nonetheless.
Despite all of these things that have happened to me, I donât think I would change my life if I had the option. Yes, these events have been devastating and painful, but they all contribute to who I am. Theyâre like the deep black strokes on a painting. The picture wouldnât be complete without them. I am who I am because Iâve lived through pain. The people whoâve come and gone in my life â even my son who never breathed â have changed me and molded me. I wouldnât want it otherwise.
I had a meeting with Steve Bell yesterday (a local singer-songwriter). Heâs going to work with us on some projects, and suggested we use his song âDeep Calls to Deepâ for an audio-visual presentation weâre creating. The name of the song has been in my head since then. Deep Calls to Deep. I think the deepness in my pain calls to the deepness in yours, and thatâs what builds friendships and community and trust. I think without the pain, our relationships wouldnât be the rich tapestries they are.
Another Steve Bell song helped me get through the stillbirth of my son. Itâs called Faithâs Song and itâs about his sister losing a baby. It gave me comfort to hear the story of someone else whoâd lived through my pain. It felt like a lifeline reaching out to me in the storm.
Thatâs what we have to do with our pain â use it to build hope. Thatâs how we redeem those gut-wrenching, agonizing moments. Turn them into something meaningful, not only for us, but for those we touch along the way.
Shared pain lifts us up and gets us through the darkness.
by Heather Plett | Apr 21, 2005 | Uncategorized
We were curled up in bed together last night, and after I’d already read 2 books to her, she wanted more. “No,” I said, “it’s time to go to sleep.” She looked earnestly at her bare wrist and said “Mom, on my watch it says it’s time to read a book!”
by Heather Plett | Apr 19, 2005 | Uncategorized
Sometimes uninvited memories sneak into your conscious mind, and you either chuckle or cry, depending on the impact the event had on your life. The one that snuck into mine the other day was of the chuckle variety. I have no idea why it showed up, but it is
a) one of my most embarrassing moments
b) one of my favourite stories
In my former role as a communications director in the federal government, I often had the (sometimes dubious) pleasure of escorting dignitaries around my corner of the world. On this particular Sunday afternoon, I was driving a former Member of Parliament back to the city after attending a veteransâ convention with him.
We were about to drive past my parentsâ farm, and so I innocently said âDo you mind if we pop in at my Mom and Dadâs for a bit? I have to pee (yes, Iâd already reached a reasonable comfort level with this particular MP and could talk about my bodily functions), and besides, my Dad would get a kick out of having an MP in his house.â He said âno problemâ, and so I pulled into the driveway, delightedly oblivious to what I was about to witness.
Mom and Dad lived in a big old 2 storey farm house at the time. I knocked first (because I had a guest) but when no one answered, I stepped inside and yelled âHello?â Still no answer. Assuming that no one was home, I suggested to the MP that he wait downstairs, while I ran upstairs to relieve myself.
Halfway up the stairs, I heard Momâs voice from the bedroom âIs somebody there?â Still suspecting nothing, I bounded into her room to say hello. Nothing about this seemed out of the ordinary â Mom often had mid-afternoon naps on lazy Sunday afternoons. What I WASNâT prepared for was the fact that she wasnât in there alone!
Peeking out from under the covers was my Dad, and frantically scrambling to dress herself in the closet was my Mom. This was no afternoon nap! By the twinkle in my Dadâs eyes, I could see that there was something else ENTIRELY going on in here, and my spontaneous visit had thrown a major kink into their SUNDAY AFTERNOON DELIGHT!
Just when you think all the kids have left home and itâs SAFE to sneak upstairs to âtear off a pieceâ on a Sunday afternoon, they start popping in unexpected! And not only do they show up, but they bring along a MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT to increase the embarrassment factor.
I laughed so hard all the way down the stairs, I thought Iâd pee myself. And when I got to the front door, I found the MP doubled up on the front lawn, laughing as hard as I was. Heâd quickly figured out what was going on and decided it was better for him to wait outside.
I saw that MP several times after that, and he always commented on that Sunday afternoon adventure. He said it had inspired him â that he wanted to have just as much fun as my Mom and Dad when he was in his 60s.
Needless to say, I rubbed it in a bit with my Mom and Dad. I told them to start watching TV when the House of Commons was in session to see if there were any MPs in the back giggling. âCause if there were, I said, they were probably telling each other the story of the farm couple having a Sunday afternoon romp in the hay!
Note: for those of you who think the reappearance of this memory has ANYTHING to do with the fact that my Mom is getting re-married in a couple of weeks, you can check your psychoanalysis at the door!
by Heather Plett | Apr 17, 2005 | Uncategorized
Gina passed me the stick, and I’ve finally gotten around to doing it. Here it is…
Youâre stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Hmmm⌠not sure how to answer this question, because I havenât read Fahrenheit 451 (though I know a bit about the premise). Would it be better to be a âfluffâ book, so that you were no threat to society and wouldnât get burned as quickly, or a more âmeatyâ book that might help you change society so that books no longer get burned? If itâs the first, I might choose one of the disgustingly fluffy Hillary Duff books my daughters have on their shelves (thankfully, theyâre finally growing tired of them!) If itâs the second, then I might choose the Bible, with the hopes that it might inspire someone to take a risk and stop the burning.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Yeah, but sadly, I have a fairly short memory for books, so I donât remember the characters very long after Iâve read the book. I remember a bit of a crush after reading Little Women⌠one of the young men who stole the heart of one of the sisters (if only I could remember who). But, truthfully, one of my favourites would have to mirror Ginaâs fave – Sir Percy Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel. Ooohhh⌠he had that little bit of âdangerâ thatâs just so sexy!
Longest lasting crush?
Like I said before, my memoryâs pretty short, so the crushes lasted about as long as the period of time before I started my next book. But Sir Percy probably rates, âcause I still get a little tingly when I think of his daring spy missions đ
The last book you bought is:
If you saw my post from April 8, youâll have your first clue. I bought Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. Her book Travelling Mercies is my favourite book of all time, so I couldnât resist buying the follow-up. After a tough day, I treated myself to a new book. Hey â when it comes to indulging, it was better than turning to alcohol or food!
The last book you finished:
Same as above â Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. It didnât take me long to finish, âcause I devour Anne Lamott like expensive chocolate. I finished it on the plane on the way to Toronto earlier this week. It wasnât quite as good as Travelling Mercies, but still DEFINITELY worth the read (with just a bit too much Bush-bashing). I have found no one who can write about her faith journey, her life as a mother, her relationship, etc., with such honesty, humour, and brilliant inspiration. I laughed, I criedâŚoh, you get the picture.
What are you currently reading?
The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace by Scott Peck. I started reading this book in Africa in February. It had been recommended by a couple of friends, because I was going to be travelling with a group of 12 people for 3 weeks, and they thought it would be interesting to read about community making in the context of a unique community experience (2 weeks in a bus with 12 people is certainly an interesting way to learn about community!) Iâve been enjoying the book quite a bit, but I took a break from it after Africa, because when I came home to my family, I didnât really feel like focussing on community for awhile. I brought it along to Toronto this week because I was pretty sure Iâd finish Plan B and needed something else to read. Itâs a great book. Scott Peck is brilliant.
Five books you would take to a deserted island:
This is a tough one. I couldnât decide whether to take âold faithfulsâ because they were comfortable and familiar, or new ones that I hadnât read yet because I wanted to be inspired. I chose a combinationâŚ
Travelling Mercies by Anne Lamott â As I said before, this is my favourite book and I wouldnât want to be without it. It gives me hope when Iâm feeling hopeless, and makes me feel human when Iâm at risk of losing touch with my humanity.
The Bible â I often wish I were more faithful at reading the Bible. I get tired of it sometimes, and other times it frustrates me, so it gets ignored. But there are still so many things I love about it, and enough things that challenge me and keep me wanting to learn more, that I wouldnât want to leave it behind. One of the things I admire most about Jesus is that he is a master communicator â he tells great stories and knows how to get peopleâs attention. I am a great lover of stories, and always interested in learning more about my chosen field – communication. So even when I donât feel particularly connected to my faith, I can find something of interest and value in the Bible.
The Artistâs Way by Julia Cameron â I figure out there on that deserted island, Iâd finally find enough time to do The Artistâs Way justice and work my way through the lessons. Iâm not sure what my âArtistâs Datesâ would be â perhaps picking seashells at the beach, or meandering through a wildflower meadow.
A blank book â yup, this one would have nothing on the pages, âcause if I DID bring The Artistâs Way along, Iâd have to have a blank book for all my morning pages. And who knows, by the time I got rescued from that island, I might have written a whole new book to leave behind for the new inhabitants to enjoy!
The Last Word and the Word after That: A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity by Brian McLaren â this is in the category of new books that Iâm looking forward to reading (on my wish list). I fell in love with McLaren when I read A Generous Orthodoxy, so now I want to read more of him. This one sounds intriguing.
There, that’s it for me. Now I’m happy to pass it on to whomever wants it… CCAP? h8s2clean (although you may have already done it)? thebloke? I’d LOVE to pass it to Michele or Linda, if only they’d ever get around to creating their own blogs (perhaps this is just the inspiration they need)!
by Heather Plett | Apr 15, 2005 | Uncategorized
Warning: political rant ahead
Yesterday, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights voted on a Right to Food Resolution. Basically, they were resolving that all human beings should have the right to food, and that those countries with excess should take some responsibility for making sure others have enough. Fifty-two countries voted in favour of the resolution. One voted against. Guess which one. The United States.
So… (here’s the political rant – don’t say I didn’t warn you) this from the same government whose President tried to step in and insist that Terry Shiavo should have the right to food. Huh? I don’t pretend to know what was the right thing in the Terry Shiavo fiasco, but you’ve gotta admit that something’s smellin’ a little rotten here. A brain dead, white, American woman, whose right-wing fundamentalist supporters happen to have alot of political clout has the right to be fed, but those 842 million people in Africa and all over the world trying to eek out a living on parched soil and in the context of unfair trade rules DON’T?
I guess it’s just too much for this mere mortal to understand.
(My sincere apology to any of our southern neighbours who might be reading this – I’m really NOT anti-American. Just sometimes your government confuses me. But you’re not alone – sometimes OUR government confuses me too.)
