What details of your life could you pay more attention to?

I can’t afford to get distracted by details because I’m focused on my health, and without my health, I’ve got nothing.

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who takes care of the details ❤️.

What’s your #1 priority tomorrow?

And getting healthier. My number one priority is being alive because I can’t do ANYTHING unless I’m alive. Number two is continuing to get healthier. Number three is continuing to strengthen my partially paralyzed leg and and finally, number 4 is getting a generous amount of rest.

In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled?

I work every day on improving my balance ,both in quality and duration. I work on strengthening my partially paralyzed leg so I will be able to walk further and longer and with better form and confidence and finally speed. As I enter year 10 of stroke recovery

It pays no money, but every day I have to rest is really enjoyed and appreciated. The big payday will be when I can walk around the block without my AFO brace or a cane.

What’s the trait you value most about yourself?

I’m not physically strong, but I’m strong in every other way that it’s possible to be strong. Emotional strength comes into play when we must deal with a difficult situation, for instance, a medical emergency and a long hospital stay . I had a massive stroke, followed by a 4.5 hour heart surgery 3 weeks later, culminating in a 6 month hospital stay during which I planned my own small wedding and came to terms with the fact that I was going to a wheelchair user and likely for the rest of my life. If I was strong enough to deal with all of that, there’s nothing I couldn’t handle emotionally.

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

Even if I could work, there’s literally no job or career I would consider pursuing. There’s no amount of money that can get me to give up retirement.

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

Although I’m a 6th generation Canadian on the paternal side, I’m also German and Swiss on the maternal side . I’m not proud of any of it because I don’t think that people should have pride in something that they had nothing to do with. I’m happy that I live in Canada because it’s a good place in which to live, although I’m also ashamed of Canada and the way we’ve both historically and recently treated the people of our First nations. I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m also ashamed of my German heritage . As for my Swiss heritage, it’s the one that carries the least shame, but suffice it to say that I hold quite a bit of white/ gentile guilt.  But I am the most curious about my Swiss line. It’s the one that I know the least about, but I must say that learning more about it really scares me because I really don’t want or need to feel even more guilty in this world regardless of the fact that I wasn’t born when those things that I feel guilt over happened.  This is partly why I refuse to follow tradition, religion, and why I have a tendency to trust other cultures over my own. It’s probably why I’m always on the side of the underdog and am overly generous. If you don’t learn from history’s lessons, you’re dooming them to happen again. Not on my watch.

What could you do more of?

Since I became disabled 9 years ago, my motto has become, if you can do something, you should do it. I’ve been pushing myself recently, and it has worked out. I now know that I can walk 12 steps forward and back without my ankle foot orthotic brace every other day. At this point, I require a rest day in-between, and that’s okay. There’s no need to push myself into an injury.

So my response to this question is not effing much!

I’m now eating with my dentures, and it feels great . Yesterday, I went and had fancy hotel tea with the hubby, my mom and her friend Yvonne, and Yvonne’s daughter, Karen, who were visiting from New Zealand and it was lovely being able to eat with everyone and not just watch 😊 .

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

My grandmother is the one to thank for this advice. If you want to buy something that you can’t afford, put it on layaway if you’re afraid it won’t be there when you’ve saved enough to buy it. Never go into debt if you can help it, and if you have to go into debt, make sure that the amount of debt you carry is debt that you can afford easily. Never lease a car, always purchase it one because it can be sold later if need be. And when purchasing a car, always make sure you pay in full, it’ll mean you won’t have a new car ,but you will have a reliable used car that you can afford to keep. This next bit of advice comes from me. When buying a used car, try to find a Mercedes Benz with a diesel engine,it might be older than you want to go, but it’ll last a long time and you’ll pay less for gas over time. I found this out by talking to a cab driver who told me that there are cabs that have more than a million miles on them, and they are all Mercedes Benz with diesel engines.

What things give you energy?

I don’t drink coffee. Or any ofher caffinated beverage I start my day with a fresh fruit smoothie with collagen powder. Lunch is either mulligatawny soup or a PBnJ and for dinner it’s pasta or something from a local kitchen. Tonight it was beef stroganoff,withroastedroot vegetables. Sometimes I just have a fruit bar for lunch, or I’ll forget about lunch altogether. I need to drink more water, but that’s what fuels my physical energy.

I found the healthier I get the less brain fog and lethargy I experience as a result of the brain damage.

My  creative energy comes and goes, ebbs and flows. I require inspiration to fuel my creative mind.