Anna M. Aquino

              I think I probably tell this story once every few years but given all the drama in the election there were some things that were brought up, and again I found myself needing to share our story again.             I grew up in a small Ohio town in what is considered the heart of Ohio.   I don’t remember ever thinking about Canada much as a kid, nor realizing that the Southern border was 3 hours north of my childhood home.   I do remember my father going up there once on business and bring back money that looked fake and thinking how cool it was.             Many of you have heard the funny story of how I met my amazing super awesome husband.   It’s really a long story but to make it short: I was dating a different man in college at OSU, he decided to move to Pittsburgh t...

My youngest daughter has wanted to be a paleontologist for several years.   At only age 7 I expect that she’ll change her mind several times over and that’s fine.   We want to give her the freedom to choose and be whatever she feels God is leading her in life.   We’ve tried to encourage her love of dinosaurs through various ways; even by last years ‘Dinosaur Dig Birthday Party.’   So when she came home several months ago suddenly declaring she wanted to be a ‘Jewelry Designer’, I was a little bit sad that the paleontology phase of her life had ended.   I didn’t question it much, but tried to think of ways I could encourage her in this. It’s amazing what parents can learn about their children in long car rides.   On our way up to Windsor Canada from Central Ohio a few weeks ago, somehow the conversation got shifted to my daughter and this sudden shift to ‘Jewelry Designer’. “Mom, it’s my choice.” “Sweetie, I’m not saying you can’t do this. ...

As many of you know my family and I travel to Canada about twice a year. In the 14 years now that I’ve been visiting my in-laws; Dan and I have collected a variety of funny border stories. There was the time when Dan and I were dating and the American Border Guard asked Dan essentially “what his intentions were” with me as an American. There was the time that we’d forgotten the birth certificate of my oldest daughter when she was about four and made her keep rehearsing “I’m an American from Florida” in the car. Or there was the time where I kept trying to explain to the guard that the “homemade coppicollo” was for our private consumption and it was really okay for us to cross with it. My list of funny stories could go on. We always drive up there borrowing a vehicle from my parents. This summer my parents purchased a brand new luxury vehicle. For years my mother used to put in a note that stated I could borrow her car, and we stopped doing it because in all the years no one ever ask...

A few weeks ago when my family and I were in Windsor Canada, Dan and I went to the Tecumseh Mall. Like any mall just days before Christmas, it was crowded. The hustle and bustle of commercialization clung to the walls and lights everywhere. There wasn’t a line up to see Santa and even though I thought it would be fun for Dan and I to take a picture with Santa he did not. The foot court smelled of greasy French fries and like moths to a flame those Canadians love their Tim Horton’s. I carried my Acer Tablet with me in the mall because I didn’t want to leave it in the car. I didn’t want to chance my mom’s car getting broken into, so I thought it would be safer for me to carry it in. Dan and I looked around some stores and then met the girls and my in-laws in the food court. However when we got up, unbeknownst to me, I let the tablet. I was more worried about the couple dollar store items we’d bought, getting out to the parking lot, and getting the kids hustled off and I totally forgot...