I’m 66, and I like who I am. Or, more precisely, I like who I’ve become in this, my “last quarter.” But do I like who I was at 18? Not so much, especially in retrospect.

Everyone talks about landing a “dream job,” but how often does that actually happen?

Hard to believe, but it’s been five years since my friend and I pulled into the driveway after dark, with a disintegrated rear tire and most of my wife’s and my worldly possessions in tow.

We finally had one foot in New Brunswick, where we really wanted to be. We just didn’t know exactly when we would move here or what our life here would look like.

My East-Coast-born and raised wife, Michele, lived in Alberta for 37 years and she never once wavered from calling the Maritimes “home”.

How we see ourselves - self-identification - is at the heart of everything we do. Can we operate outside our own self-image?

Nothing focusses the mind like having the end in sight, but beware of the cost

Notwithstanding pre-existing personal bias and a considerable amount of immaturity, I was able to hear Pachelbel’s Canon and listen to the CBC news right afterward with an entirely different mindset.

It did not take long after I had written the first four parts of this essay for me to find out what grief in losing a close friend would look like.

I think it’s important to note that I actually cry very easily at certain things: anytime animals or children are hurt, suffering, or missed; Remembrance Day; certain movies; and anything that makes me think of how much I love my wife and daughter.