A mammoth act of love
This is a story for everyone who loves my dad Doug Hedemark – some of you know him personally, and lots of you know him only through my blogs or Facebook. Many people have written to say they feel they know
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Vote for Rita Smith, at least once! And LAUGH when you can
As Toronto heads to the polls in what may be an historic municipal election – sadly characterized by drama, chaos and acrimony – I was delighted to come across this happy little piece of local history packed away in a
Read MoreDo whatever it takes!
The Smith Family mahogany table hosted innumerable happy celebrations over the decades. C-RRRR-AAAAA-CCKK! I swung the rubber mallet, wedging the slim metal chisel deep into the seam between the two mahogany planks. When the chisel was buried deeply enough, I
Read MoreHow to Avoid an Argument – or, maybe not (Profanity Warning!)
Beautiful Niki Grigoriadis and her husband John were my favourite office neighbours, ever. This blog was originally published in 2004 and remains one of my very favourite pieces. Before I posted it, I knocked on John Grigoriadis’ door to let
Read MoreCo-operate with the Inevitable, the Doug Hedemark Way
“It is astonishing how quickly we can accept almost any situation, if we have to,” Dale Carnegie wrote in Stop Worrying , “and adjust ourselves to it, and forget about it…co-operate with the inevitable.” Surely, this is one of the
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Where to store your copy of Dale Carnegie's "Stop Worrying?" Immediately next to your bed on the night table. Then, if you awake in the night you will catch of glimpse of it, and knowing it is there if you need it, you can roll over and go back to sleep. Photo: Rita Smith
Cancer was hard: surprisingly, worry was harder. This book saved me.
This piece was written in 2005 when I was in treatment for breast cancer; I had not expected to ever repost it, mainly because I remain stubbornly determined to never think about cancer if I can help it. However, the
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Handsome Koda is descended from the American strain of Labrador Retrievers, which differs slightly from the British version. Both strains would rather hunt than eat, given the chance. They are what their DNA makes them! Dale Carnegie noted decades ago that honouring your experience, environment and heredity is a great way to manage stress: "Find yourself and be yourself" he advised . Photo credit: Margot and John Weir
Hunting dogs NEED to hunt; what do YOU need to do?
During one election campaign, I visited a rifle club with my candidate. It was an absolutely gorgeous Ontario fall day, bright blue sky and flame-coloured trees. The rifle club was full of happy target shooters, cheerfully absorbed
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The May long weekend is for gardening and barbecuing, not talking about funerals and caskets -
or so I thought, before I interviewed a most exceptional man about his business as a Funeral Director.
Everything dies; it’s the living that counts
Why is it that so many of Ontario’s funeral directors hail from family farms? “I’m not sure, exactly,” my interviewee scratched his head. “Maybe because to us death is just part of life. You live on a farm, every day
Read MoreCanada: At least there are no Scorpions
I used to have a theory: if you are beautiful, brilliant, dedicated and hard-working, you will never know stress; Andrea Pierce taught me otherwise. I learn the most from my graduates. The best parts of a Dale Carnegie class are
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