family Archives - Queen's Journal

Connecting with my grandma during the pandemic

Written on February 2, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

My grandma cries every time my family goes on vacation. She knows she’s getting old and there’s always a small chance she may never see us again. As my grandma approaches her 90th birthday quarantined in her retirement home, I cannot imagine the sadness and isolation she feels. I spent a lot of time...

When politics come to the dinner table

Written on November 6, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

Family dinners at my household have always been filled with vibrant conversation. Growing up, popular topics included what my brother and I learned at school, complaints about workdays, and drama surrounding social lives. But when I moved home this spring at the beginning of the pandemic and family...

The pandemic is forcing us to reconsider how we care for our elderly. We’re better off for it.

Written on June 1, 2020. Posted in Editorials.

As COVID-19 continues to rock old-age homes, it’s time we roll back the clock and re-evaluate the value—and potential inevitability—of the multigenerational family. In Dr. Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, he writes, “Modernization did not demote the elderly. It demoted the family.” Now, he might say...

Growing closer to my parents while away at school

Written on January 31, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Postscript.

University usually marks the first time that teens move away from their home and their parents, and when they really start developing into independent young adults. This might especially be true at Queen’s, with 95 per cent of its student population originating outside Kingston and from over 100 countries. It’s...

Learning about my grandfather’s heroic life taught me the power of storytelling

Written on October 18, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Postscript.

I will never meet my grandfather. His death in 1978 makes that impossible. But I would be grossly mistaken—and I was—to think that means I’d never have a relationship with him. When I was growing up my dad often read to me and my sister. I remember how the three of us fit snugly in his scratchy grey...

Navigating my long-distance relationship with my brother

Written on September 27, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Postscript.

When students returned to Queen’s for the new school year, everyone fell back into familiar Kingston routines. But while they did so, it’s certain everyone also entered into some kind of long-distance relationship. With friends studying at post-secondary institutions scattered across the globe...

Thank You Letter: My attentive parents

Written on March 26, 2019. Posted in Columns.

As I approach the end of my university degree, I’m constantly filled with a huge sense of accomplishment. “In two months, I’ll be a university graduate,” I obnoxiously tell myself at least once a week. In my head, the piece of paper I’ll hold in about two months signifying my graduation will be something...

Bringing my family’s hopes, dreams and fears with me to Queen’s

Written on February 28, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Postscript.

When I stepped onto my first university campus in 2016, my family came with me and never truly left. Seated in our beat-down pick-up truck, my hopeful mother and father shared my confusion navigating Queen’s on move-in day as we searched for West Campus. Moving my luggage into the top floor of the...

Watching my brother fight a life-threatening illness

Written on February 28, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

For three and a half years, I’ve watched my little brother miss out on high school friendships, relationships, and work opportunities, all due to a crippling and life-threatening illness. In the summer of 2015, I was getting ready to move hundreds of miles away from Detroit for my first year at Queen’s...

The Nutcracker’s reluctant biggest fan

Written on January 11, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

Every holiday season, thousands of eager Canadians swarm downtown Toronto to witness the unique Christmastime magic that is The National Ballet of Canada’s production of The Nutcracker. Also every holiday season, I begrudgingly drag myself to the Four Seasons Theatre’s orchestra section and wait for...

Canada’s unequal abortion services leave women trapped

Written on September 25, 2018. Posted in Editorials.

It’s unforgivable that legal early abortions are often inaccessible to Canadians living outside major cities. Often, an abortion is a difficult choice, for reasons ranging from financial constraints to knowledge of available resources. The Globe and Mail’s Atlantic bureau chief, Jessica Leeder,...

Grandfather and granddaughter reunite for Homecoming

Written on October 26, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

Sixty-six years following his graduation from Queen’s, John Greenberg, Sci ’49, rejoined his family and friends for a Homecoming to remember. Originally from Ottawa, Greenberg came to Queen’s to study mechanical engineering. When he arrived, computers were in their infancy and the modern ballpoint...

Coast to coast: a break into the deep south

Written on September 15, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

Part I: Coast to coast: the last father-son road trip Picking up from where I left off in last week’s issue, my dad and I left Oklahoma City behind and headed deep into the south, a part of the country that I quickly realized was a bull of a different colour. Dealey Plaza in Dallas is the site of...

Parental traps: How to survive a family vacation

Written on August 18, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

After spending several months away from home during the school year, the prospect of living under the same roof as mom and dad for the summer can seem nightmarish to some. Add to that the promise of family vacations – where tensions often erupt and boredom can take hold – and you might be considering...

Culture clash over kid’s care

Written on September 27, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

Two Winnipeg foster parents will soon learn whether or not they can continue caring for the child who has been with them for two years. Because the child in question is Métis and the parents are Filipino, the Métis Child and Family Services Authority has attempted to block the adoption in favour of...

At home, families face unique struggle

Written on November 9, 2012. Posted in Features.

When Annie Riel’s husband returned from his deployment to Afghanistan last year, something had changed. “He was so calm. The roof could have fallen down and his heartbeat wouldn’t have raced. Nothing was stressful,” Riel, PhD ’14 said. This was a big change for the mother of two, who had been away...

‘Three-ring circus’

Written on October 21, 2011. Posted in Arts.

Canadian musician Matthew Good last came to Kingston in 2009. The guitarist and vocalist said the biggest change in his life has occurred at home, with his second marriage and the birth of his son. “Kids, family, the rest of it,” Good said. “Just trying to find that balance between music and home...

Tag: family

Connecting with my grandma during the pandemic

When politics come to the dinner table

The pandemic is forcing us to reconsider how we care for our elderly. We’re better off for it.

Growing closer to my parents while away at school

Learning about my grandfather’s heroic life taught me the power of storytelling

Navigating my long-distance relationship with my brother

Thank You Letter: My attentive parents

Bringing my family’s hopes, dreams and fears with me to Queen’s

Watching my brother fight a life-threatening illness

The Nutcracker’s reluctant biggest fan

Canada’s unequal abortion services leave women trapped

Grandfather and granddaughter reunite for Homecoming

Coast to coast: a break into the deep south

Parental traps: How to survive a family vacation

Culture clash over kid’s care

At home, families face unique struggle

‘Three-ring circus’

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