What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

You can’t have it all without the opportunity to do so. Your dream job, your dream car,your dream home, travel, etc. can all be achieved if you have the opportunity to make it happen. I’m lucky that I live in a country that affords EVERYONE opportunity. But if I wasn’t born here, I would have done everything in my power to get here. 🇨🇦

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

Number one, my wedding ring

Number two, my tablet. It allows me to write through things

Number three, I’m tempted to say my cats, but they’re not objects. They’re sentient beings for whom I have love.

Everything else is just filler.

How do you feel about cold weather?

I’ve always enjoyed a crisp day. It’s the kind of day when the air puts a little color in your cheeks. I was comfortable with the cold. As a Canadian, it came in handy. Then I moved to Los Angeles, California, and I hated the heat, and the sun in the winter didn’t feel right. I toughed it out for 18 years before moving back home. Then menopause hit, and I couldn’t get cold enough. I remember going out onto the balcony of my Montreal apartment after midnight in nothing but a robe in February and opening the robe, and just watching the heat escape my body . It was wonderful. Now I’m post menopausal and I need more heat just to stay comfortable, which is why I live in a city with the warmest winter climate in Canada. It’s wonderfully temperate.  I love sunshine but prefer a cooler temperature with it. My perfect day is sunny and anywhere between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius with no wind.  Preferably in the spring because I have the most energy during spring, and since my stroke nearly ten years ago, energy is on low supply. It sucks getting older, but I’m tough. Old age isn’t for sissies, as Bette Davis used to say.

Have you ever broken a bone?

I’m very lucky in that I’ve never broken a bone, however…

I have had a surgeon use a rib spreader to break through my sternum and spread my ribs apart in order to remove a large tumor from my right atria in my heart, a 4.5 hour surgery, during which I also had 2 blood transfusions. A surgery that occurred just 3 weeks after a massive stroke that very nearly killed me

So maybe not so lucky after all.  Just tough and determined.

List your top 5 favorite fruits.

Peach 🍑

Kiwi 🥝

Banana 🍌

Cherry 🍒

Pear 🍐

The berries

Blackberry

Blueberry

Strawberry 🍓

Cranberry

Gooseberry

What does freedom mean to you?

Ironically, I became paralyzed only a few years before gaining financial freedom. Being paralyzed really brings down the high of financial freedom. Because of the aneurysms in my brain, I likely can’t fly to the destinations that I want to, so there’s no luxury travel on my agenda. That’s hugely disappointing because it was the only thing that I wanted to do in my retirement. But on the bright side, I’m still alive. Sometimes I wonder why, if I can’t do anything but exist. I saw a story on 60 minutes today about a neurology team in Switzerland and the breakthrough they’ve made in bringing paralyzed limbs back to life and my case is not nearly as bad as the people they were helping. Unfortunately, because of the piece of myxoma tumor from my heart that traveled to my brain, I don’t think their breakthrough would help me. You see,it’s still in my brain, and it has grown a little over the past decade. That’s going to the thing that can’t be gotten around. I fear . While it’s wonderful to have financial freedom, when it can’t buy you health…

That said, it’s fantastic to live in one of the most free countries on the planet. I can say what I want, even publish it, without fear that the police will take me to jail.  I’m free to be the atheist I am, and there are more like me by the year. Im free not to give a damn about ” King “Charles and never touch money with his mug on it, thanks to debit and credit cards. And that is about as free as a person who has my medical issues can get.

What good is freedom if you can’t fully enjoy it ?

What public figure do you disagree with the most?

It would be stupid to disagree with the president of the United States because he doesn’t have a single thought that didn’t come from the mouth of someone else. Someone who is more evil, more viscous, and colder than just about anyone else on planet Earth. That person is former KGB operative, Vladimir Putin. The man who kills without remorse and starts war with a country simply because they would rather be sovereign unto themselves than be part of Russia.

You see, I’m a passivist who was born in Canada, a country that is the polar opposite of Russia.  I care about people and animals and the health of our planet. I’m generous, often overly generous. I’m not perfect, and I admit it. I’m apologetic, often overly so. I’ve never given into violence, even as it’s been brought upon me. I’ve never directed someone to bring violence upon anyone, even if they deserved it. When someone does me wrong, I simply don’t engage with them going forward. I don’t think that it’s my right to take a life. I prefer to live by the motto, LIVE, AND LET LIVE.

What is your career plan?

I’m retired. Investment is my new career. So, I’m spending more time doing research on companies that I want to invest in. Mostly Canadian companies because I live in Canada and it’s better to invest in my own country’s economy. But if a company from any country, other than the USA, looks like a solid investment, I’ll happily and seriously consider investing in it.

What do you do to be involved in the community?

My disabled life is not inclusive of my community because I’m simply not out in it enough. The vast majority of my week is spent in my lift chair with a tablet on my lap. I don’t have many actual friends, with the exception of my husband . So I write to keep myself sane and to invite people into my world, creating a community of people who want to read about it. This blog has been slowly gaining followers since I started it in 2012, before I became disabled and since 2015, when I became disabled it’s definitely become more interesting to read, even as my life has become smaller and smaller. I used to travel and dance and drive and enjoy living life. Now I exist. It’s a depressing change to be forced to make, but 10 years in, I’ve had to accept losing so many things that not much fazes me anymore. The fact that I have multiple aneurysms in my brain means that I must live carefully… very carefully. The fact that I’m paralyzed down my left side means that I must live slowly… very slowly. I am not fun to hang out with anymore, hence so few friends. I don’t get lonely often, but it does happen occasionally . At least I live in a small city with options for entertainment and money enough to enjoy some of it. For example, this month, I will be enjoying a performance from Cirque du Soleil with my mother . I’m lucky to live in a small city that pays attention to accessibility ♿️. I’m very lucky that the city is beautiful and temperate. And I’m the luckiest woman because I have a wonderful husband who takes care of me and puts up with me and my tiny world and makes it less lonely and depressing. And we both couldn’t be luckier because we have two of the sweetest cats ever, and we we’re still enjoying getting to know them. It’s important to focus on what I have and not dwell on the things I miss. If you have your health, don’t squander it, and don’t take it for granted . Get out and enjoy everything you can .

List the people you admire and look to for advice…