The NorMel House

The sun is shining, and despite the heat waves and warnings we've had lately it seems the Fall breeze is here. I love the Fall in Ontario. The leaves on the trees change into a myriad of oranges, yellows and reds. The air becomes crisp and fresh and the humidity that characterizes our summers is finally gone. I have to laugh because despite the heat we've had, our sister province to the west had snow...in September. I wouldn't want to skip the Fall we have; there's something so beautiful about it that it just makes me sigh. This week will mark my 34th birthday. Some days my achy body makes me feel so old I can't believe it's only 34. Other days I look at my life and can't understand how that much time has passed; life seems frozen in place. My sweet Cara-Mia being gone, and my cute Xena growing up seem to be the only markers to show life has continued. Though on occasion I'm shocked when I realize how much older my nephews and nieces are. It doesn't...

The Flower of Life It sprouts up like a flower, bold and beautiful It rises like the sun at dawn, growing brighter and warmer It comes bringing joy and love And it breathes the breath of life Then it withers, and gone is the beauty it came with It fades like the sun at dusk and leaves behind a cold, cruel darkness It leaves and with it goes the joy and love it came with And it breathes it’s last breath. You think it’s gone forever And for it your heart does yearn But if you listen carefully There is something you will learn All the joy and love you miss Is not gone forever For this earth is but a passing phase That we endure together So do not weep and worry long There is a God above And He hears our simple prayers He gives us all His love.     Melynda Hoeksema

I've always been very expressive about my emotions; I've been told I should publish my writings but I somehow don't think that in a digital world it would be worth it...I could be wrong, but either way I thought I'd share something I wrote years ago and see how it goes... Wars and battles have always struck me emotionally and I've written a number of poems about the subject... 7 September, 2002 Dreamer’s Cause Dreamers die in fatal lands Still grasping for hope With outstretched hands Dreamers die out on the fields For what good do they bring What do their dreams yield Someone’s dreams becomes a cause Spreading like fire on summer’s grass They get up to fight without a moments pause Ignore the foes’ guns and weapons and gas Dreaming of better they make things worse Their lives become a dreadful nightmare They fulfill the soldiers curse Dreamers die out on the fields In foreign lands, its our freedom they steal.         Melynda Hoeksema (Reinink at the time of writ...

Life is full of waiting... Wait for the microwave, wait for the kettle, wait for the traffic light to turn green, wait for mealtimes, wait at the restaurant, wait in line at the store, waiting, waiting, waiting. Waiting can be boring, or frustrating or even stressful but there are some wait times that can be so much more difficult. Like waiting to find out if you have cancer...  or if the cancer is gone....  But today I particularly think of the waiting for motherhood. When we want children there are so many hard wait times. We wait to see if we get our period. More often than not we get it and the waiting starts all over for the next month. We may end up waiting to get in to see a specialist. Then you wait in the waiting room. Wait for test results, wait for that cycle to be at the right time and sometimes the waiting takes years. When we finally don't get that dreaded time of the month we end up waiting for that little line on a stick to show up (seriously a stressful...