(This article appeared in the June 4th issue of Commonweal Magazine) Hiatus While I took Lent and Easter more seriously than ever this year—in terms of prayer, Scriptural reading, reflection, and discipline—I didn’t go to Mass. In fact, I [...]

It’s hard to believe that all three of the MacGill sisters have died. They went out in the exact opposite of the order in which they came in: Aunt Sheila, the youngest, left us first. Then Mom. And three days ago,  the eldest: Aunt [...]

When Cathleen set out for college four years ago, she planned to major in Psychology and Interior Design – her two loves. She was particularly interested in Criminal Psychology and we used to joke about how she might team up with Martha [...]

It began when our shipment of Tulika Books arrived. We had saved a little stash of money and we decided to splurge on a whole stack of high quality children’s picture books, recommended by our friend Nicola Tansley, mostly in Hindi (a rare [...]

OK, so no one likes to go. But for Moy Moy (and her mother), going to the dentist is like major surgery. Because her jaws are reflexively clamped shut and because she has sensory issues when anyone goes anywhere close to her face, expecting her [...]

This man is sitting in my office. I am one of those people who expects miracles and coincidences as a regular feature of life, but even I have trouble believing how this one came to pass. Several months ago,  our Chartered Accountant asked us if [...]

After Mom died, Lucy kept discovering interesting things she had left behind. One of the most fascinating was a do-it-yourself autobiography which someone must have given her (it was definitely not something she would have bought for herself). [...]