Tag: parents

Photographs and Memories

Published on by J. Kelland Perry22 Comments
New Melbourne Point
New Melbourne Point

Back in late January, I accompanied my husband Paul on a work trip to Old Perlican. This Newfoundland community is where my children attended elementary school and is very close to the tiny outport where they grew up. My son was born in the cottage hospital there during a January blizzard.

On the way home from the work trip, I snapped a picture of New Melbourne Point, shown above.

This view brings back a torrent of vivid memories. It’s so familiar and dear to me because my parents lived there for many years, also while my children were small. Their house, which Dad built when they moved from the city, is hidden behind the trees in the center of the photo. It is now someone’s summer home.

Once a week, this scene came into view as I drove up the shore to visit Mom and Dad, and whenever I shopped – or worked – in Mom’s little store in New Melbourne, Carrie’s Grocery and Confectionery.

❤ My babies, way back when ❤

No matter how many years go by,
I still miss those treasured visits.
Happy Heavenly Mother’s Day, Mom.
– Has it really been seven years?

Sending Mother’s Day wishes out to all the lovely moms today!

Stop the Bullying

Published on by J. Kelland Perry14 Comments

With a new school year beginning this week, I urge those of you who are parents of young students to broach the topic of anti-bullying.

Perhaps you have had the talk before, but it bears repeating and reinforcing. Start a dialogue on all aspects of bullying, including cyber-bullying. A child’s future well-being may be at stake.

Consider having your child take the following pledge:

3eb569609f00acae5f402d34bb095a88 (1)
educationworld.com

 

As the pledge states, it is also important not to turn a blind eye when you witness bullying.  Yes, it takes courage to speak up, but as parents and teachers, we have to teach our kids to be compassionate.

Bullying is deliberately hurting another person with your words or actions. Would you want someone to treat you that way? 

The Bitter and the Sweet

Published on by J. Kelland Perry14 Comments

I thought that I was coming home
Heart skipped with childish glee
I longed to to see my pretty mom
We’d catch up with mugs of tea

  Heart skipped with childish glee
Yes, dad would be there too
We’d catch up with mugs of tea
Like we always used to do

Yes, dad would be there too
We would have so much to tell
Like we always used to do
When they were strong and well

We would have so much to tell
Of both the bitter and the sweet
Since they were strong and well
And our family was complete

Of both the bitter and the sweet
But the real world intervened
A stab in the heart under the sheet —
Just another errant dream.

This was my attempt at a Pantoum Poem, a poetic rhyme scheme style from Malaysia.

The TV Commercial I Wish I Didn’t Love

Published on by J. Kelland Perry6 Comments

In today’s age of high-definition PVR’s and the luxury of watching television on demand to fit into my schedule, I rarely watch commercials anymore, and that suits me fine.  But there is one ad I have seen recently that I think I could watch every day.

I won’t reveal whose advertisement it is;  let’s just say it is for a financial company sharing the benefits of a home renovation loan.  In this particular case, the son in the ad has just renovated part of his home to make a self-contained apartment.  We see the son showing his aging father around the apartment, who appears very impressed with what his son has done.  The father touches the new kitchen cabinets and remarks that the apartment should fetch good rent.

It is then that the son reaches in a box bearing the financial company’s logo, and comes out with a set of keys.  He then gives the keys to his dad, telling him for the first time, “The apartment is yours, Dad.”

Then follows his father’s reaction of surprise, and he reaches out and hugs his son.

I swear, my heart gives a little leap and a flop each time I see this ad.  Of course, I know why;  I lost my dad nine years ago to ALS, when he was 69.  I never got to see my father anywhere near as elderly, and yet healthy, as the gentleman in the ad.  My mother didn’t fare much better, being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in her sixties, and now in the latter stages in a nursing home.

I didn’t write this post out of self-pity.  I just wanted to impart to those of you who read this, the fortunate ones who still have a parent or parents who are loving, healthy and of sound mind, to treasure them.  Please don’t take them for granted. You have something, and an opportunity that I will never know:  the ability and the joy of giving back to those who brought you up and gave you their all.

For me, watching that commercial reminds me, and lets me dream – just for a few minutes – of what could have been.