Waving Not Drowning

"Courtney, hurry up- just ring the bell and hold up the box. Come on, honey, we have half the street left to do and Daddy's going to be home any minute expecting dinner to be ready. Don't be shy, the Martins bought 3 boxes last year. They're home, honey-see the light on in the living room?" Susan gestures by jerking her head repeatedly to the left. She looks like she's having a small seizure or suffers from a spastic tic. The pressure. The picture window has the drapes halfway drawn. She knows everyone's ignoring the bell. Becky Lo and her Tiger Mom did a wide sweep of the neighbourhood last night and early this morning. Who pimps out Thin Mints before work? Su's just pissed she didn't think of it. Damn Girl Guide cookies. They're going to be the ruin of her. Last year she was on the hook for 15 boxes. They're like crack; she can't keep them in the house and there was a quota Courtney wasn't meeting. Not good. Courtney is not a peop...

Today is Trudy's favourite day of the year. The other 364 are good, if you like that sort of thing- banal, day in, day out, get up, go to work, come home, make a meal or two, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again kind of days. But today is Mother's Day. Although Trudy isn't a mother, she is an aunt and a daughter and a sister and a surrogate mom to all of her friend's kids. She's the crazy aunt everyone pours their hearts out to; the one her friend's kids turn to with stories of heartbreak or embarrassing questions about boys and bodies and the difficult truth on life and why their mom's are so harsh. A confidante, secret-keeper, truth-teller and comfort food maker. Truthfully, most weekends and statutory holidays are filled with the people in her life that love her so, but oddly enough it's on Mother's Day that Trudy beomes a bona fide star. A raucously celebrated, boy-I-wish-you-were-my-mom kind of day. The flowers and chocolates, the brunche...