Being an entrepreneur can be one of the most rewarding and liberating things you can do as a career. Equally valid, being an entrepreneur can be one of the most frustrating and emotional roles you can choose to make a living. Schools are great at teaching you how to succeed when starting a new business, but do these schools properly … Read More
Wake Up Parents; You Could Lose Your Child to Suicide
Last month I was invited to speak to a group of grade 7 and 8 parents about teen mental illness, what I’ve learned of our dealing with Madeline and what we were hoping to accomplish with The Maddie Project. We scheduled a date. I provided a summary of the content, and an agenda was sent out to all parents to … Read More
How Do You Know if You are CRA’s Favourite Target?
No one wants to be in CRA’s cross-hairs. You may be an unsuspecting victim even if you’ve done nothing wrong. We’re not talking about people who are guilty of tax evasion or tax avoidance. Your only criteria may be your marital status. If you are single, divorced or widowed, then you may be CRA’s favourite and unsuspecting victim. If you … Read More
5 Reasons Why I Wouldn’t Want to be a Teenager Today
This isn’t one of those nostalgic posts about “I remember when”, but my kids will probably accuse me of it. Obviously, there have always been challenges in raising teenagers but throw in social media, access to technology and our kids surpassing our knowledge base for certain things, and so our job as parents just got exponentially more difficult. Life was … Read More
No One Wakes Up and Suddenly Decides to Become Charitable One Day
In the past, I would never describe myself as being particularly charitable. It’s not that I wasn’t compassionate or I was completely selfish, but to be honest, I didn’t think that anything I contributed towards charity would make a meaningful difference. I wasn’t able to write a significant cheque. The other reason, there wasn’t a particular cause that I was … Read More
How Does Tremendous Purpose Come From the Darkest Tragedy?
Does the hurting ever stop? I don’t know because I’m not even close to being there yet. A big part of me wants the pain to go away but not at the cost of the memories. The memories are what I cherish, what I hold onto when I want to feel close to Madeline. This is what I felt 2 … Read More
Is It Time to Think Differently About How We Arrive at Being Happy?
I’ve written in the past about what important role anti-depressants have played in my life. They had become a necessity for my functioning after Maddie’s death. I’ve written blog posts about the merits of anti-depressants. There comes a time when change is needed and time to explore alternatives. Anti-depressants are not without side effects. Anti-depressants are not a magic pill that … Read More
Why Do I Choose to Write About the Life and Passing of My Beautiful Daughter?
I’m often asked why I choose to write about the life and passing of my beautiful daughter, Madeline. Over the last 6 years, the reasons have been diverse. Sometimes it’s about an event that’s occurred that hits so close to home that I feel a need to share its relevance in my context. Perhaps it’s because I have a terrible … Read More
If I Had One More Chance, What Would I Say To Maddie Today?
It’s been more than six years since we lost our beloved daughter, Maddie to depression at the tender age of fourteen. It’s hard to describe what has transpired since that dreaded day. It has left this indelible imprint upon the lives of our family and so many of our friends. Yet it is a legacy that has touched the lives of … Read More
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