by Danielle Scruton | Jan 24, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
Jenna’s raven-black hair bobbed up and down on my screen as she attempted to adjust the angle of her camera. Video calling was the way of the world these days. She was a two-hour drive away and was caring for her ageing father during our province-wide...
by Danielle | Jan 17, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
She moved through the trees with ease as if it was where she came from—as if she had been rooted and born here. Her long black hair draped gracefully over her dark green cape, and her worn brown boots made the barest of thuds against the mossy floor of the forest. He...
by Danielle | Jan 12, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I gathered her hair in my hands and attempted the braid she requested. My daughter, now nine years old, was keenly aware of her appearance and valued it. She was particular about colours (bright) about pants (tight) and about jewelry (never too much). To me, this...
by Danielle | Dec 30, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
Because some days, we don’t know where we want to go; we just know we’re not ready to go home. I always landed at her doorstep. She was everyone I had ever known and all of those whom I still had yet to meet. She had eyes that knew, with irises that were...
by Danielle | Dec 20, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I told her I felt better. A week-long, nasty cold had finally abated. “Thank goodness,” she replied. “With all the work we (as women, as mothers) have in December, it’s a very good thing.” Yes, December means ‘more’: more...
by Danielle Scruton | Dec 14, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
Bending to kiss him goodnight, I whispered: “I love you exactly as you are.” His ten-year-old face relaxed at that. My son—at once gentle, kind, destructive and dreamy-eyed-—held a real depth of feeling behind his cool, blue eyes. The nighttime routine was...
by Danielle Scruton | Dec 8, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I don’t have a podcast episode this week—too much going on!—but I didn’t want to miss my weekly target. So, here is a short story I wrote in 2018. Yes, I’m divorced. And yes, I have friends and family who are divorced. This is not based on any one person’s experience....
by Danielle | Nov 30, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I know how this goes, and yet I fall for it every time. I fall for the drama, the who’s right and who’s wrong of it all. It’s so easy to get caught up in the noise and distraction. You just want attention. You don’t want my heart…. This...
by Danielle Scruton | Nov 24, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
When Dean and Frieda met, they had an instant connection. Not only did they have chemistry, but they had similar childhoods. And the stories of how their marriages had ended were alike as well. For them, the relationship was a refuge—a place to feel safe, loved and...
by Danielle | Nov 17, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
It’s cold, but the wind has died down, so I decide to walk. I stick to the salty sidewalks and avoid ice patches. I want to reach out to my brother, Wes, so I take my phone out and send him a quick text: I did it. I went out, met strangers, and I survived! He...
by Danielle | Nov 8, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
The city bus in downtown Niagara Falls is quiet. Tourists take the casino buses. It’s just me, some teenagers and an elderly woman with her shopping basket on wheels. My nerves are in my throat; I swallow them, but it doesn’t work. The tension slides down...
by Danielle | Nov 1, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
There’s a meme out there that says something along the lines of: “I’m always writing a story in my head.” This is my experience. I play out the life around me in my head to understand, to foster compassion. This, for me, is part of the process...