MEANINGMAKER

Digging into the beautiful,
complicated truths
that make us human.

Latest Posts

  • carrying me still

    On the morning of the day I turned 37, my mother was the first person to call me with birthday wishes. That was true every year. She was always the first to call. Always around 7 a.m. But that year’s… Continue reading

  • the guest book

    In the basement this afternoon, looking for a paint brush, I noticed a clear plastic bin on a low shelf. What caught my eye was a snatch of colour I immediately recognized as a beautiful throw that my dad’s mom, my… Continue reading

  • the wedding speech

    Our daughter got married this weekend and so, naturally, I want to tell a love story. Weddings are most always a love story about the bride and groom. But this is not quite the love story you think it is.… Continue reading

  • the river

    The river is rolling by this afternoon. On its way, I realize, to I don’t know where. As I sit next to it, listening to its song, I wonder why it is that such a simple thing is stirring the… Continue reading

  • may we all

    On June 1, the first day of Pride Month, I posted this story to my company’s employee newsfeed. I know how fortunate I am to be safe and comfortable enough to do that. I wish everyone could feel that way.… Continue reading

  • easter sunday

    This photo was taken on a sunny day in 2018 at the Coliseum in Rome. Charlene had gone off to find a bathroom and while I waited, sitting with my back against a stone wall, I looked out at this… Continue reading

  • chaos theory

    Sometimes, the raging current of the state of the world sucks me under, and I start to think about what a terrifying, heart-breaking freakshow we’re living in these days. On those days, the world has never felt more chaotic. Recently,… Continue reading

  • glory days

    Tomorrow night in an American stadium when I see The Boss step on stage, I’ll briefly think about the guy who bullied a couple of us on my high school bus when I was in Grade 9 and 10. A… Continue reading

  • something more

    I think that deep down in our souls, all of us are probably aware that some kind of mystical evolution is our true task here. But, in my mind, we don’t talk about the mystical experiences we have enough. I… Continue reading

  • what it will be

    Whenever life got hard, Mom would often say, “it will be what it will be.” I assumed that she meant that things would turn out as they should — good or bad — and she would deal with it either… Continue reading