HER STORY

Menopause is technically one day. Twelve months without a period, and the label lands. Everything after that is postmenopause, and for a lot of us that’s thirty or forty years. Basically the rest of our lives.

I think that’s the sneaky part of these little unfinished tasks. Even though we’re not actually doing them, we keep thinking about doing them. They stay somewhere in the background, taking up a tiny bit of mental space every time we notice or remember them.

There is a funny side to almost everything if you look hard enough, but there is also a psychological side to this that we don’t talk about enough.

After 28 years in an emotionally abusive marriage, Valerie left her husband. What next was a decade-long journey to find the woman she had lost along the way. At 64, she’s exploring on her own, making new friends, and building a life that finally feels like hers.
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Some days the noise in your head won’t quiet down no matter how hard you try to think your way out of it.

If I could tell another woman who feels trapped in her life one thing, it would be this: The fear of leaving is heavy, but the weight of staying is heavier. You have more strength inside you than you know.

As a teenager, I needed women who could help me understand that equality wasn’t about rejecting femininity or disliking men. It was about having choices. It was about being taken seriously. It was about deciding for yourself what kind of woman you wanted to be.

Stories about music... I have so many. And I've realized that some of the biggest moments of my life seem to have come with a soundtrack.

A few notes of a song can transport us somewhere we haven't been in decades. Sometimes it brings back a person. Sometimes a place. Sometimes it's a version of ourselves we'd almost forgotten existed.

What my father’s last two weeks taught me about being present — and about the questions no one thought to ask

Community is the through line of my whole recovery, in every direction it’s come from. A group chat, a boat, a race, a hiking trail, and now a platform I built by hand because I needed it to exist.

Strength isn't only about carrying others. Sometimes, it's having the courage to let someone carry you for a while.

I heard someone recently say they weren’t trying to reinvent themselves in this new chapter of life, but rather to "reveal" a part of themselves that had been put away. That stayed with me. Sole Sisters has been doing that for me since the early days — helping me reconnect with women, with community, and with myself.

What happens when you pick up a pair of drumsticks for the very first time at age 58? In this heartfelt reflection, Saskatchewan-based pipe band drummer Linda Kraft shares her journey of learning a new skill later in life. From finding the right teacher and band to overcoming self-doubt and embracing new challenges, Linda's story is a powerful reminder that it's never too late to pursue a passion and discover what you're capable of.

There are moments in life when the path beneath you shifts without warning—when everything you thought was certain suddenly isn’t. In The Brain Tumour That Saved Me, Paula reflects on the unexpected turns that reshaped her life. Honest, raw, and ultimately hopeful, her story is a reminder that even the paths we never choose can lead us somewhere meaningful.

This poem lives in that disorienting space between hearing and understanding, between impact and meaning, where language has the power to wound and reshape at the same time.

Birds are everywhere. In cities, on trails, by the water, in your own backyard. Noticing them creates a thread that ties all these places together. No matter where I am in the world—whether I’m walking familiar paths at home or exploring somewhere new—there’s a comfort in that continuity.

Every pair of boots tells a story—and Judy’s are filled with miles of adventure, resilience, and quiet transformation. From forest trails to life’s turning points, this is a reflection on where we’ve been, what we’ve carried, and how far we’ve come.

On April 30, the thought of me walking 22 km in a single day would have been laughable.
On May 1, 2020, I woke up and started walking with real intention. As long as my body allows, I’ll be unstoppable.

I’m the woman who loves breathing in fresh mountain air and pushing myself up the hardest, dirtiest trail. And I’m also the woman who wants to dress up in something pretty when I go out. I’m both. I always have been. I’m just no longer hiding it.

Life, in its unpredictability, has a way of clouding the obvious. Responsibilities accumulate. Emotional burdens settle quietly onto our shoulders. And before we realize it, we are moving through our days more out of obligation than wonder.