Storyphile | Your life. Your story. For the people you love.

Roses are Red…

But why? It’s because of a chemical called anthocyanin and how it absorbs or reflects sunlight. And why am I talking about roses? Because it’s Valentine’s Day. Roses (especially red ones) have been associated with Valentine’s Day for centuries. But the history of the rose is far older than the history of the holiday. Read … Read more

Saint Nicholas and My Baba

Today is St. Nicholas Day. It was kind of a big deal for Ukrainian Canadian prairie kids when I was growing up. There was usually a St. Nicholas Day concert put on by the Sisters who taught after-school Ukrainian school. Sometimes there would be a parish dinner or supper as well. St. Nick would make … Read more

Remembering Mama

Had she lived, today would have been my mama’s 102nd birthday. It would also have been my parents’ 77th wedding anniversary. My parents got married on Mama’s birthday because my grandfather, Mama’s dad, thought that would be an auspicious day. But poor Mama found herself in a predicament when it came time to sign the … Read more

Why We Tell Stories

I recently came across this quotation by Brandon Sanderson: “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” Truth be told, I’d never heard of Sanderson. (He’s an American fantasy writer.) But his comment made me think about storytellers and stories. I agree … Read more

More on Grandmothers

My late mother-in-law, Lillian (née Winters) MacLeod, grandmother par excellence.

I heard an interesting idea on CBC Radio the other day, on one of the summer reruns. Canadian novelist Katherena Vermette was talking about her latest novel, The Strangers, which I liked a lot. It’s about family—grandmothers, mothers and daughters—and the complicated ties that bind generations together. Vermette made the point that girl babies are … Read more