TOPIC: YOUR TURN MANITOBA
First Person
I'm 45 years old, and thanks to my ADHD diagnosis I finally know why I've felt distracted all my life
"I look back at the times I've struggled in my life. For the first 45 years, I figured it was a character defect," writes Elisha Dacey. That changed when her daughter was diagnosed with ADHD — but many women she's heard from struggle to get a diagnosis or help, she writes.
First Person
My dad's gift of a Maritime vacation became a holiday of healing
Lisa Kasky's parents dreamed of travelling from their Manitoba farm to the East Coast. Her dad died suddenly just weeks before the trip he planned for his family but the journey became a stepping stone to a smiling heart.
First Person
My grandmother died of lung cancer. Please stop blaming her for it
My grandmother's smoking habit when she was younger quite possibly contributed to her death, but the fact that everyone feels the need to ask the question is telling, writes Amy Mann.
First Person
I started high school in a pandemic. But my senior year was just how I imagined it would be
Since 2020, Steinbach Regional Secondary School student Ayesha Badiola has written about what it was like to be a high school student in Manitoba during a pandemic. Now, the recent grad shares her experiences one last time.
Opinion
Every Canadian has a role in ending the MMIWG crisis, advocate says
"It must be top of mind at every opportunity that Canadians can act to end gender-based violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA plus people, not only during daily interactions, but also at the ballot box," writes Hilda Anderson-Pyrz.
Opinion
The next time you present a land acknowledgement, remember Linda Mary Beardy
Land acknowledgements have become increasingly common practice, while the remains of Indigenous women continue to turn up in landfills. We must not become indifferent to either, Nicole Murdock writes.
First Person
My fight for more home care is a fight for a lifetime of freedom
Alex Lytwyn, a Manitoban who lives with cerebral palsy, says he tries to do daily tasks as independently as he can. But when he lost his balance and fell out of his wheelchair, "my life changed in an instant," he writes.
First Person
My Asperger's diagnosis explained a lot about my life, but my wish to fit in remains the same
Ernie Strauss was 50 years old when he first found out about Asperger's syndrome, which a neuropsychologist later confirmed he had. "That recognition explained a lot of things about my life up to that point," he writes.
Video
3:06
POEM
I needed to feel my mother's presence after possible gravesites were found at her residential school
When Vivian Ketchum learned about the discover of possible graves at the site of the northwestern Ontario residential school her mother once attended, she wrote this poem. "I have not forgotten you," she writes. "I am dancing with the relatives found."
Opinion
Sensationalizing alleged killers will not bring our missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls home
Rebranding the MMIWG2S crisis as a string of violent events for which a lone person is allegedly responsible will not bring our relatives home, writes Nicole Murdock.
Opinion
Dear Premier Stefanson: You're saying too little, too late about solving the MMIWG crisis
After learning a man has been charged in connection with the homicides of three First Nations women and a fourth who is also believed to be Indigenous, Alia Lister asks Manitoba's premier: "Why haven't your PC caucus members better addressed this crisis?"
First Person
I went hungry as a child. I didn't want my daughter to experience that
"There was not enough money to make ends meet, and after yet another financially rough patch ... the cupboard was emptier than I was used to," writes Jennifer Spence on her decision to access a food bank.
First Person
I used to donate to the food bank — then suddenly, I needed one
Manitoban Donna Swarzynski had a good job and nice home. Then, "in an instant, the life I once knew changed forever," she writes. That's when she first needed a food bank.
First Person
Dear mother, now I understand why you couldn't raise me — and it wasn't your fault
"Mother, I'm writing this because I want you to know I took the time to understand why you weren't present when I was growing up. I started researching the residential school survivor stories, yours included. So I know it wasn't because you didn't want me," a daughter writes.
First Person
How a small faith-based shelter helped me escape homelessness
"It was Steinbach Community Outreach that helped feed me and keep a roof over my head for the remaining three weeks of my homeless journey," writes Lisa Wiebe.
First Person
I survived violence and exploitation while homeless in Winnipeg
Lisa Wiebe says while she was homeless in Winnipeg, she "learned there are so many roadblocks, it felt like they were put into place just to keep the homeless precisely where they are: in a constant state of survival of the fittest."
First Person
Why I ended up broke, homeless and fighting for survival
When Lisa Wiebe tells people she was once homeless, the question she's most often asked is "why?" she writes. "I put my faith and trust in a system that is so broken, it failed me, even though it was designed to help low-income and poverty-stricken individuals and families," she says.
First Person
I'm a witch, I'm not evil and I'm not your Halloween costume
"Every Halloween we have the witch talk. A witch is not a costume," says Susanne McCrea, a Winnipeg-based writer and activist who practices witchcraft.
First Person
My son's death revealed the connection between mental illness and addiction
"Devin, our only child and the centre of our lives, passed away at 22 from an accidental overdose. While he had been under psychiatric care, there was nothing that could have prepared my husband or me for this unimaginable loss," Sandra Ingram writes.
First Person
I should look forward to early retirement, but I think I'm dreading it
On the cusp of retirement, Selkirk, Man., social worker Roxane Anderson says she is struggling to continue in a work world that has changed since the pandemic.
First Person
I finally have a normal school year and I plan to make the most of it
I started my diary entries in September 2020 as a Grade 10 student, while adjusting to new restrictions. Two years later, I finally have the chance to experience and write about a normal school year.
Opinion
Half of humanity navigates 'the change' but science still can't figure it out
Technically, it's just another stage of life, albeit one with more unpleasant surprises than Will Smith at the Oscars. Practically, menopause can be devastating to a woman's health and well-being, something of which I and my cohort are painfully aware.
Opinion
I survived polio, but now I fear others will needlessly suffer from it
Winnipeg polio survivor Wes Hazlitt fears an increase in cases because of fewer vaccinations, and he cannot imagine seeing thousands of children on ventilators because of a preventable disease.
Opinion
We're failing people who are homeless, and they're dying because of it
Former NDP health minister Sharon Blady says the shooting deaths of people without housing in B.C. are connected to hate-filled rhetoric.
First Person
My service dog changed my life, and then the unthinkable happened
"Fanta, my service dog, filled my soul with optimism, happiness and independence. And then the unthinkable happened: My dearest Fanta got sick," writes Alex Lytwyn.