Love From Maria

​ ​ S M L I grew up in a household with an incredible man. A man who taught me so many lessons, even if he didn't know he was teaching them. Like many kids, I grew up in absolute love with my dad - he was gentle, kind and full of light. My dad was the fun dad - if we went swimming as a group he was the dad throwing all of the kids like cannons from one end of the pool to the other. He had room in his heart for every child, every person. I remember once asking him why he doesn't hunt or if he ever wanted to and he told me that it hurt him too much to take life from something. He was someone I went to for advice, looked to for behaviour and loved like nothing else. ​ ​ S M L I don't write about him too often, maybe because it's hard and it hurts, maybe because of later life decisions - here's one for him and a handful of the things he taught me. Acceptance : I honestly can't think of a time when my dad didn't include someone, befriend some

 I did a large part of my growing up at a community centre. My life, from a young age, was anchored by the community centre that I spent nearly six days a week in. And I couldn't write about community without it including figure skating. At thirty-one my mom did one of the bravest things an adult could do - she joined the community figure skating club. Thirty-one. That's a rare age to be signing up for a sport. But my mom, she's rare. She's a one of a kind human that has continually made decisions that have bettered our lives - even if she didn't know that at the time. So there she was, a mother of three young children out on the ice with a bunch of adolescents. She completed her dances and figures and eventually decided to become a professional coach. My mom, always wanting more, doing more, being more.   ​ ​ S M XL It just made sense that my sister and I would skate. My mom was going to be at the rink anyway, we might as well be there too, being active.