TOPIC: FIRST PERSON
First Person
When my son cried, I listened. My father never had that when he was in residential school
What started as a school drop-off turned into a deeply emotional moment for Alexander Redhead that connected to his late father’s experience in residential school — and to what it means to be an Indigenous parent trying to break cycles through love and compassion.
First Person
My life as Hilary Duff. No, not that one
Sharing a name with a celebrity is equal parts comedic, exasperating and revealing for Hilary Duff, who is a writer and photographer in Canada.
First Person
I wanted to save my family’s stories. Instead, I found a connection I didn’t know I was missing
When he started recording a podcast about his family’s history, P.E.I.’s Andrew Stetson thought he was helping preserve their stories. He never imagined what he would learn about himself and his place in history.
First Person
I lost my driver’s licence for a year. Everything went uphill from there
In 2024, Vivienne Steele had a medical change that resulted in her driver’s licence being suspended. Over the next year, she rode buses, bikes, walked or bummed rides around Whitehorse, and learned more about both her community and herself.
First Person
I survived a severe allergic reaction. The fear that followed was worse
After an allergic reaction sent Lucille Friesen to the hospital, she was afraid to leave the house and obsessed over her food. But the biggest hurdle she had to overcome was deciding that she was done letting her anxiety own her.
First Person
I spent over a decade obsessed with the gym. I’ve finally let myself stop
When Zahra Khozema first started going to the gym in university, it made her feel powerful and beautiful. The guilt and stress came later.
First Person
My 11-year-old son has leukemia. How and when should I talk about it?
When Chris Mallinos’s son Theo was diagnosed with leukemia, he was prepared for the physical isolation that would come with avoiding infection during Theo's treatment. However, Mallinos wasn't prepared for the emotional isolation of his son being a cancer parent.
First Person
After a decade of hunting Christmas trees, I've learned to cherish the forest as a friend
This year, Kristine Thoreson realized that the annual family adventure to the forest became less about what they take and more about the tradition that they have made together.
First Person
Family Christmas won’t be the same after Hurricane Melissa. Here in Ottawa, I’m holding on to hope
Jody-Anne Cargill watched in horror from Ottawa as the home she grew up in Jamaica was torn apart by a hurricane. Focusing on her family and community gives her hope this holiday season.
First Person
I was in charge of Christmas magic for my kids. Now they're grown and things are changing
At first, Jennifer McGuire hated how her cherished Christmas traditions began falling by the wayside when her sons became adults. Now she’s learning to love some new twists on old rituals.
First Person
The quiet war: What Ukraine taught me about modern conflict
Justin Smith is a Canadian veteran who moved to Ukraine to support the country's fight against the Russian invasion. Since then, drone warfare has changed how he sees modern war.
First Person
Learning I had a rare genetic condition changed how I saw myself as a physician, woman and mom
Bethany Oeming has often fielded questions from people wondering what the secret was to her muscular body. At 36, when she was pregnant with her second child, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation called familial partial lipodystrophy. Suddenly, what she thought was simply her “body type” was reframed as a lifelong medical condition.
First Person
I took on a second job as a single parent to make ends meet. Somehow, it became a lifelong habit
Lynn A. Farquhar says she fed, clothed and housed her children with help from the gig economy. Now that they're adults, she reflects on why she can't stop side hustling.
First Person
Wrestling gave me the strength of mind to get out of death's hold
Seventeen-year-old Semir Ali dreamed of being a professional fighter. When he fell ill and was later diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, he knew he had to fight his way back into better health to fulfill his goals.
First Person
But you don't have Canadian experience: That phrase tore me down as an immigrant but also made me resilient
Hari KC's qualifications were good enough for him to qualify to immigrate to Canada but not to work here. Becoming a security guard and then going back to school taught him how to rebuild his life one step at a time and shaped his understanding of what diversity in Canada means.
First Person
I felt people would judge me for getting Botox. Then I realized I was judging myself
In Jennifer McGuire's hometown in Ontario, plenty of women get Botox only when their partners are away during moose hunting season. That realization prompted her to grapple with why she, too, was hiding her own Botox use.
First Person
Restorative justice helped me turn my life around — and it started with one drum
Ruby Harry spent many years inside correctional institutions. It wasn't until she learned about restorative justice that she found her way back to her culture and began healing.
First Person
My outlook on aging changed when my friend died. Here’s the clarity I found as I enter my 60s
Dana Kobernick never saw aging as a privilege. Then her longtime friend died, and her perception changed. As she enters her 60s, she’s learning to face life’s next steps with courage and gratitude, inspired by her friend’s resilience.
First Person
I'm an Acadian at heart even if my accent marks me as an outsider
Bailey Ross has devoted himself to speaking French and promoting Acadian culture. But feeling like he belonged and could call himself Acadian came much later in life.
First Person
I believed in achieving goals. Living with a concussion forced me to appreciate the journey
Paleontologist Natalia Rybczynski studies the ancient animals of Canada’s High Arctic. After experiencing a brain injury in 2011, she had to figure out life again.
First Person
I craved friendship after moving to Canada, but learned some friends aren't worth having
After moving to Canada from Dubai, Musfirah Jamal learned to navigate the challenges of middle school friendships by doing whatever she could to fit in. But when a friend cut off ties with her abruptly, she realized it had been a mistake to give up her own identity to find belonging.
First Person
Dad was a Grey Cup champion. I want to hate what the sport did to him but it's not that simple
Gary Chown was a two-time Grey Cup champion with the Montreal Alouettes. While mourning his loss, his daughter Hayley Chown has been coming to terms with the sacrifices he made to the sport and her complicated feelings about football.
First Person
Moving to Canada meant new holidays — and finding my own place within them
Every family holds onto special dates. For Ban Zhang, moving to Canada meant learning about its history — and reconciling the significance of those holidays that once seemed distant and foreign and making them markers of his own identity, memory and belonging.
First Person
It's not easy being a Black immigrant woman in Atlantic Canada
Chef, actor, writer and entrepreneur Angeletta McKenzie writes about her struggles moving from Jamaica to St. John's, and how she learned to make space for herself and other immigrants.
First Person
Marriage was never an option for me, but now, in my 60s, I find myself looking at rings
Gregory Walters knew that marriage and family were two things he'd have to say goodbye to as possibilities when he came out as gay in the 1980s. Even though the law changed to allow same-sex couples to get married, Walters still didn't feel connected to it as a right. But love changed that all for him.