Liberation

In 2019 I was honoured to be invited to Ottawa by the Canadian Tulip Festival to tell this story in person at the Heritage Pavillion. A version of this piece has also been included in the Liberation75 School Curriculum for Grade 9 – 10 students across Canada. In 1942, my mother (Johanna deGroot nee Meijer) […]

War Correspondent

Divided Loyalties: Front-line death sentence?

For the past several weeks the world has been under quarantine and we, who are self-isolating are the lucky ones. The people who are out on the front lines are faced with the challenge of choosing between competing loyalties every time they leave the house and again when they return. By choosing to leave they […]

Small Town Heroes

I like to go grocery shopping early, but today I waited until 9 a.m. because I saw the notice that the hour between 8 and 9 was reserved for the vulnerable. That was easy. I can wait. I went in to do my weekly shopping and saw empty shelves – a sight I never see […]

And So This Is Christmas (thank you J.L.)

As Christmas approaches, it is once again the season for reflection. I am a bit of a ‘hoarder’ and as such enjoy reading through old correspondence occasionally. Today I read some letters from a former military comrade. In particular I read some that he wrote to me while he was posted to Sarajevo. See the […]

New and Exciting

I’ve always enjoyed trying new things. Some would call it a restless spirit. It’s taken me on beautiful adventures around the world, allowed me to meet interesting people, led me to great jobs (everything from the military to private investigations to New Product Development to my current career as an author). I’ve been away from […]