Cannabis is a type of flowering plant that originated in Asia but is now grown around the world. It has many uses including as a prescribed medicine and as a recreational drug. It is consumed in many forms such as an oil or resin, plus its leaves can be dried and smoked. In recent years it has also been added to foods and drinks in North America.
Anyway, people get high from the chemical THC which is one of the main chemical compounds found in cannabis. Another compound present in cannabis is CBD, which does not produce a high. CBD is used today in the treatment of several medical conditions such as seizures, anxiety, and inflammation among others. Recent studies show that using cannabis for anxiety can be helpful. Many cannabis users have reported lower levels of anxiety and a reduction in the need for prescription medication. The results of these studies suggests that the use of medical cannabis improves symptoms of anxiety but does not completely eliminate them.
Nevertheless, the use of cannabis was banned in Canada with a new law drafted in 1923. Before then, opium, heroin, and cocaine were already banned. There were very few arrests made for the possession of cannabis between the years 1930 and 1965. However, this started to change by the late 1960’s as its popularity grew.
Since then there has been a great deal of discussion about whether to regulate its use or to decriminalize it. A turning point occurred in 2000 when the Ontario Court of Appeal decided that a strict prohibition against cannabis possession was unconstitutional as it didn’t make an exemption for medical use. Since then the federal government has legalized the production and sale of cannabis in Canada.
Canadians have been able to legally access cannabis for medical purposes since 2001. It has several treatment benefits. Two of the main benefits are alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy, as well as chronic pain. According to the Mayo Clinic, medical cannabis has also been used as a treatment in the US for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Glaucoma, MS, and more.
The Clinic also listed some possible side effects of using cannabis which included increased appetite, hallucinations or mental illness, dizziness, possible addiction, impaired concentration or memory, slower reaction times, and drug interactions. It stressed that additional research is required to answer if the usage of cannabis is safe. However, it pointed out that medical cannabis is specially formulated to provide relief of an illness or condition without the mood altering effects from the use of recreational cannabis.
Another interesting fact to note is that research shows that the marijuana grown today has 4 times the amount of THC in it as compared to the cannabis grown in 1990. This is a cause for concern as this means the odds of suffering from side effects such as hallucinations or mood disturbances from the use of cannabis today are much higher now than ever before.
Anyway, the reason I decided to write about this topic is since marijuana use became legal in Canada, you can smell it everywhere. You can smell it in residential areas, at bus stops, among other places. As well people are walking on the sidewalks while smoking. I go for a walk outdoors pretty often and all of the sudden I would smell a very strong odor of marijuana. I know I am in the minority as I never touched it when I was younger, and I hope I never will.
I am well aware that there are several advantages to using it for medical purposes, but I wonder if anyone is keeping track of the amount of cannabis that individuals are buying. I am also concerned that the police will have the training and tools they need in order to tell when someone is driving while under the influence of cannabis.
At first, I wondered why the federal government decided to change the law and make cannabis legal a few years ago. After giving it some thought, I can think of a few reasons. Firstly, they wanted to regulate its use and earn additional revenue from taxing the purchase of cannabis and related products. Secondly, they hoped to drive as many illegal suppliers as possible out of business. Thirdly, they felt that the cost to the government to enforce the law was not worth it.
They stated that the demand for cannabis did not drop over the years despite the severe penalties against its use. It also meant that thousands of Canadians every year were charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and ended up with criminal records. Therefore, instead of clogging up the courts with cases of simple possession, they decided to loosen the regulations a bit. The government felt this would be advantageous for everyone.
Ron took all of his frustrations out on her. However, Daisy denied all of his accusations and was crying crocodile tears…. But in the end, she said that he and his ex-wife took advantage of her all these years and now it’s payback time. Daisy said that she didn’t care about Nelly whatsoever, but he hurt her badly and she wanted to get back at him. She had a goal and he prevented her from reaching it.
Although Ron made it unequivocally clear to her he doesn’t want to remarry or to have any more children, she thought he would change his mind over time. Daisy waited for Ron to fall in love with her but it did not happen.
Ron was a very handsome man and came from a well known family. And Daisy wished to be part of his family against all odds. She decided if it didn’t happen naturally, she would make it happen some other way.
Ron couldn’t sleep that night as he was preoccupied. He was thinking how stupid he was and how he not only put himself at risk, but also his children. He never thought she was capable of doing something like that. He called his superior officer at the base the next day and asked for a few weeks leave. Everyone knew he was a single parent so his request was immediately approved.
Ron decided to slowly wean himself off marijuana. Because he had small children, he knew he had to share his problem with his parents as he needed their help. Ron told his parents about what happened with Daisy, along with what he was going through. He asked if his children could stay with them until a solution could be found.
His parents were in shock when they heard what Ron had to say. They couldn’t understand how they didn’t see this coming. They also couldn’t believe he never told them about his problem with marijuana. They didn’t even know he touched the stuff.
Nevertheless, they immediately agreed to Ron’s request that the kids stay at their house. His father even suggested that Ron go to a detox clinic. He said he knew some people that could help him, but Ron politely declined his father’s suggestion. He told his parents he could do it himself.
Ron picked up his children from school that day and took them home. He told them he needed to go away for a while and they would stay with their grandparents. Ron hesitated before telling them he fired Daisy and was surprised at their reaction when he said she wouldn’t be a part of their lives anymore.
It’s difficult to describe the joy on their faces when they heard she was gone for good. The kids told their father that she had been very tough on them lately. They said they were afraid of her because she threatened them. She told them if they dared say anything to their father she would punish them by not letting leave their room for hours even to eat their meals. She also wouldn’t let them see their friends or use any computers. Ron had no clue that Daisy was abusive towards his children. He felt so guilty and could barely hold back his tears.
Ron tried to wean himself off the drug starting the next day, but it did not go well. He understood after a week that he couldn’t do it without professional help. Thus, he decided to accept his father’s offer and go to the detox centre. But before he went there, he called Nelly and asked if they could meet.
He contacted her a few days before Nelly’s lawyer was scheduled to petition the court to grant her shared custody of their children. Although she was very surprised to get the phone call, Nelly agreed to meet him at his house. However, when Ron opened the door, she couldn’t help noticing that he was not at his best. He was skinny and looked preoccupied. Even though she was angry with him for keeping the children away from her, she felt compassion when she saw him.
Nelly also wasn’t the same person now. She was more mature. She was studying at university, and was in a new relationship with a man named Matthew. They met when they were both volunteering at the local mental health institution. Matt was divorced and had two children. His wife left him because he suffered from depression. Nelly and Matt could relate to each other because of their past mental health challenges.
Anyway, Ron told Nelly what happened with Daisy and what she did which didn’t surprise her. There was a lot of emotion in the air that evening. Ron told Nelly that he always wanted her to be a part of their children’s lives. But they rejected her because Daisy poisoned their minds. He told Nelly he blamed himself as he wasn’t aware of what was going on right under his nose. He said he trusted Daisy and since the children liked her, he thought everything was OK.
Ron also told Nelly he had to go to rehab for a while and their children needed their mother. He added there was no one better than her to be with the kids during his abscence. Nelly was delighted to hear that her children would be part of her life again. She realized she could take advantage of the situation by asking the court for full custody. But she recognized she made many mistakes such as not listening to her mother and trusting Daisy, as well as getting married too young.
In addition, Nelly had the children one after another which she was unable to cope with. As a result, she needed any help she could get and Daisy was there. Nelly did not think about the consequences wnen she let this woman into their lives. Basically she was paving the way for her to take her place, even though she was well aware Daisy was after her husband. Lastly, Nelly didn’t want her children to suffer anymore. The last thing she wanted to do was to take their father away from them.
Ron went to rehab for a few weeks. In the meantime, Nelly was a full time mother again and enjoyed every minute of it. When Ron returned home, they had shared custody of the children as they agreed to before he was hospitalized………………..
Dr. Simpson helped Nelly register in a government program that helped her finish high school. She finished high school with very good grades. Then she decided to work in the mental health field. Nelly went to university and on her first day, she felt as though her dream started to come true. She couldn’t stop thinking about her father and how proud he would be of her.
Celia was thrilled when she saw the amazing change that took place in her daughter’s life after so many years. She told Nelly to focus on her future and she would be there for her whenever she needed. However, Dr. Simpson had a friend Vanessa who was a lawyer. She would occasionally take cases at a very low fee in order to help people in need. Vanessa was touched by Nelly’s story and decided to help her with her legal case.
Nevertheless, Ron didn’t like what became of himself. He felt that cannabis was running his life and all he wanted was to sit and do nothing but smoke. Ron promised himself countless times that he would stop smoking especially when he thought about his children. Every now and then he would stop for a day or two and then go back to it. He could cope better with life’s challenges when he smoked marijuana. Ron literally didn’t understand how much he relied on the drug. Basically, he was addicted to it.
Anyway, one day he left the base early because he needed to take his car to a mechanic. After leaving his car at the garage, he arranged to meet his supplier and pay him for the marijuana he bought from him a few days before. Ron arrived early at the meeting location and waited for his contact to show up.
While he was waiting, he was surprised to see Daisy getting out of her car and meet with his supplier. The supplier gave her a package and it was clear to Ron what it contained. She took an envelope from her purse, gave it to him, and then hurried to leave the area. Although Ron was parked not far from her car, she didn’t noticed him because he was driving a loaner car.
Ron was in shock because he knew for sure Daisy doesn’t smoke marijuana or cigarettes either. He approched his supplier after Daisy drove away, gave him the money and casually mentioned the woman who drove away a few minutes before. Ron said she was a friend of his wife and he would never believe she touched grass.
The supplier hesitated for a moment and then told him she not just smokes grass, she specifically asks for the most potent product he can get for her. Ron tried to look unfazed by what he heard, even though he was deeply upset by it.
He started thinking about his children on his way home. He thought what a lousy father he was by putting them in such an unhealthy environment. It wasn’t enough that he was smoking cannabis all the time, but the nanny that he trusted to help raise his children was also smoking.
He heard loud music coming from inside his house when he arrived home. When he entered the house he saw Daisy in the living room with her back to him standing next to the entertainment unit. She opened a locked drawer where he stored his marijuana. She then took out the closed package that he purchased a few days before and replaced it with the package she just bought, then closed the drawer. She didn’t even notice that Ron was in the house and standing behind her.
Ron stood there in disbelief and suddenly a lightbulb turned on in his head. He remembered what his supplier told him, that Daisy always requested the most potent cannabis he could supply. He suddenly understood how he became addicted. It was because the product he was smoking now was much stronger than the grass he smoked before Daisy became the nanny of his children. She wanted to control his life and almost succeeded.
He finally realized why she came back. It was for take her revenge and destroy him. Ron didn’t say anything and waited for her to turn around. She jumped backwards when she saw him and dropped the package that was in her hand. Then she asked Ron “oh, what are you doing here at this time of day?”
He picked up the package that fell on the floor, looked at her in disgust and asked what the hell was she doing. At first Daisy said she just bought him another package. Ron raised his voice and called her a liar and a manipulative person. She tried to say something but nothing came out of her mouth.
Then he said he knew she came to his house to destroy him and his family. He threw in her face that she was jealous of his wife all these years because she didn’t have a social life at all. Ron said some things to her that he never thought he could say to anybody. In fact, he held up a mirror in front of her face and everything he said was true……
Daisy was deeply hurt by what Ron said. It was as though he stuck a knife in her heart. Yet, she didn’t have any choice but to accept it if she wanted to be around him.
Ron was deliberating by himself for days and couldn’t make up his mind. He consulted his mother who told him he should hire someone to be an au pair for his kids and not take someone who was in love with him. But Ron thought that his mother was overreacting and felt he could control the situation. And besides, his children really liked Daisy plus she was pretty good with them.
A few days later Ron called Daisy and said he accepted her offer. But his job offer came with some conditions attached….. First, they wouldn’t have any personal relationship, it would be strictly business. And second, he wanted her to encourage the children to go see their mother. Daisy almost fell over when she heard the second condition.
However, she agreed to his terms as long as she was close to him and he let her live in his house. Daisy moved into Ron’s house shortly after their conversation. She resigned from her job so she could dedicate her time to Ron and his children. In return, Ron was generous with her salary.
Nevertheless, Ron liked to smoke marijuana on the weekends or when his friends came over to watch sports on TV. He never did it in front of his kids, and always made sure they were sleeping or at his parent’s house. Marijuana was forbidden in Canada at that time. But he had a regular supplier that would sell some to him whenever he wanted. Even though he enjoyed smoking joints, he was a moderate user.
After smoking a joint when he was alone one weekend, he realized he felt higher than usual, which surpised him. Still he was overjoyed. He thought his supplier decided to spoil him and give him something special……. A few days later he had a difficult day at the naval base. When he came home, he decided to make an exception and smoke a joint at night even though it was a weeknight. The feeling he got was amazing, but the day after he had no energy and was a little depressed when he woke up.
He went to the base as usual and when he came home at the end of his shift, he decided to light up another joint. In a short period of time, he went from smoking one night a week to smoking marijuana every day. He couldn’t stop smoking long enough to figure out how this happened. It seemed like all of the sudden he was in an addiction loop.
Ron was able to function and people around him didn’t notice any changes in him. However, he wasn’t able to concentrate and wasn’t as sharp mentally as he was before plus he became moody. If anybody mentioned they noticed something different in him, he would answer he was looking after his kids and this was difficult for him at times. He would do his best to smooth over the situation and then change the subject.
Ron was very involved with his children’s lives such as at school, their after school activities, etc. But suddenly he became more distant and was much less involved. In addition, he was a lot less approachable which was a big transformation from before. He also stopped inviting his friends over and barely saw his parents.
Daisy was there to support him and he was grateful for her help and support. As a result, their relationship changed and they started to have a personal relationship once again. Daisy decided to take advantage of the situation and make some changes in the household. The kids were no longer encouraged to see their mother. She became the decision maker and started to be tough on them. She wasn’t Ms. Nice anymore……
In the meantime, Nelly started receiving treatments that were more efffective. The hospital where she was being treated hired a young doctor named Dr. Simpson who was highly motivated and deeply cared about his patients. After Dr. Simpson heard Nelly’s sad story, he decided to take an interest in her case. He thought she had good treatment potential and there was a very good chance she could return to live a normal life.
He offered her an experimental medication which he thought would give her a good opportunitiy to recover. He told her that the treatment has side effects and it would take a few months for her to see any improvement. Nelly didn’t care about any side effects, all she wanted was to get her children back. She started the treatment and she suffered from strong side effects for the first month.
Thankfully against all odds, after 6 weeks she started to see an improvement in her condition and began to feel better. Nelly felt alive again, something she did not feel for a long time. She finally allowed herself to dream about a brighter future………
Ron wasn’t in love with Daisy as he had relationships with other women at the same time as well. The situation was very convenient for him. Daisy helped with the children, did most of the cooking plus all of the housework, and he made no commitment to her.
However, Daisy wasn’t naive. She knew Ron was fooling around with other women. But she had a plan for him. She wanted to slowly convince him to get rid of Nelly and marry her instead. She already started to put the idea in his head to divorce Nelly. She told him that because of her illness, Nelly has a bad effect on the children. She also said that his wife loses her temper quite quickly with them. But Ron would say it’s inhuman to throw the mother of his children away just because she was ill. He told her he could not do it.
At the same time, Daisy tried to poison the minds of the children against their mother. She tried to put in their heads that Nelly could hurt them as she cannot control her actions. She would tell them they should ask their father to prevent her from returning home once she is released from the hospital.
Daisy also tried to take advantage of the fact that the kids felt ashamed that their mother was in a mental institution. She brainwashed them so thoroughly that they didn’t even want to go with their father to visit her at the hospital.
It took a while but in the end, Daisy succeeded in having Nelly thrown out of her own home. The children relentlessly pushed their father to do it until he finally gave up. Nelly moved to her mother’s house as she had nowhere else to go. The separation from her children made her situation even worse. She used to go to her children’s school to see them during their break, and they would tell her to go away.
Ron filed for divorce a few months after Nelly left the family house. Daisy was so pleased that she prepared a special meal for the family. She felt that her time had finally come and her plan went like clockwork. But she soon realized that Ron had no intention of marrying her.
He told her that he got married when he was very young, which was a big mistake. He made it clear he wasn’t going to get married again anytime soon. Besides, Ron said he already had enough children and didn’t want any more. Daisy was very disappointed, and couldn’t believe her own ears. Nevertheless, after all her efforts to remove Nelly and get her out of her way, she didn’t intend on giving up now.
In her twisted mind, Daisy thought if she waited patiently for Ron to be available, he would run into her arms and propose. However, she did not have a plan B and was caught off guard. Then she thought maybe she should give him some time to get a little perspective. In the meantime, she would leave him for a while and let him deal with the children plus the household on his own. Daisy was sure this would teach him a lesson, and he would come crawling back to her on his hands and knees.
But this didn’t happen. Ron wasn’t impressed at all by Daisy’s disappearance. He was quite sure she would come back to his house with her tail between her legs. And if not, maybe this is a good opportunity to get rid of her once and for all, even though his children really liked her. Ron thought that she was extremely possessive of him because she had no friends and was very lonely.
Ron wanted his freedom and didn’t want to feel tied to her. He also thought it was about time he brought an au pair for his children. In addition, he wanted his children to have a better relationship with their mother. Ron was in touch with a placement agency that specializes in placing au pairs with families. He and his mother even started interviewing possible candidates that the agency referred to them. And then two weeks after she disappeared, Daisy unexpectedly showed up at his front door.
The kids were very happy to see her while Ron was indifferent. He looked at her as if to say “what the hell are you doing here?” It took him a few minutes to invite her inside the house as he didn’t like the way she behaved. Daisy apologized but she said she felt humiliated by him and couldn’t stay there any longer. But then she thought about the children who had just been separated from their mother and felt it wasn’t fair to them to lose her too…….
Ron explained to her he was already looking for an au pair for his children. He added she was welcome to occasionally visit but he didn’t think it was a good idea for her to be there all the time. But Dasiy softly said that she had very strong feelings towards the kids, as if they were her own children. After all, she knew them since they were babies and nobody knows them like her.
Daisy added since he was looking for an au pair she was the best choice for the job, and he should let her fill the position. Ron looked at her while she was speaking and thought she looked very sincere. Still he did not want to make a hasty decision so he said he couldn’t give her an answer right now. He made it clear to Daisy that he needed time to think about it, and he would let her know when he makes up his mind……….
Their oldest son was born six months after Nelly and Ron got married. Ron was overseas when Nelly gave birth. At first she got a lot of help from her mother and her mother-in-law. But after a short time, they left her to deal with the baby alone.
Her mother Celia needed to go back to work as she was unable to get any more days off. But she would come every day to see how her daughter was managing. However, her mother-in-law preferred meeting her friends instead of helping her with the new baby. Besides, she didn’t like Nelly which was an understatement. From the first time she met her, she thought that her daughter-in-law wasn’t very smart. The one who would baby sit the boy every time Nelly asked for help, was Daisy.
Daisy didn’t have a social life so she was available to help. Nelly would sometimes ask Daisy to babysit her son and she would go out and socialize with her friends. Nelly complained all the time how hard it was to raise a child when the father isn’t around. Still, this didn’t stop her from having one child after the other. She had 4 children by the time she was 27.
Nelly suffered from post partum depression when she had the 4th child. As a result, Ron requested to serve only in Toronto until her medical condition improved. Due to her condition, Nelly wouldn’t even lift and hold the baby for several months, and the children were neglected. Every time Ron came home from work, he saw Daisy looking after the children.
Daisy was a social worker and was self employed. She took time off whenever she wanted and helped Nelly with the kids. Daisy was a great cook and loved to prepare meals for the family. And Ron really appreciated her help….. She would also eat meals with the family while Nelly would often refuse to come out of the bedroom to eat.
Daisy and Ron would regularly sit and talk after meals, sometimes sharing an after dinner glass of wine together. Celia would visit her grandchildren every evening and noticed that Daisy was there almost every time she visited. This didn’t look right to her but she couldn’t say anything about it because Daisy was there for her grandchildren. It also seemed that the more Nelly was depressed, the more Daisy seemed to flourish.
Celia would beg Nelly to get medical help so that she could return to her family, and could function again as a mother and wife. She was afraid that her daughter was losing Ron, as his attention was shifting away from Nelly towards Daisy.
Celia didn’t know how bad her daughter’s condition was until one day she got a phone call from her son-in-law. He told her she tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pils. Fortunately, she was found on time and was rushed to the hospital where they pumped out the contents of her stomach. After that she was admitted to a psychiatric ward for observation and assessment.
Celia would frequently visit Nelly. And every time she saw her daughter her heart went out to her as she looked lifeless. At the beginning, Ron would visit his wife twice a week. He refused to take his children there because he was afraid that bringing them to the hospital would have a bad effect on them. But over time he visited less often until he stopped visiting her altogether.
What was surprising was that Daisy never went to visit her “best friend.” Instead, she kept going over to the house and basically stepped into Nelly’s shoes. After a while Ron decided to apply to the courts to have full custody of the children. Nelly would have no say in their upbringing if the court granted his request.
The court ruled in his favor. Nelly would go in and out of the psychiatric hospital. She would come home when she felt better. She would then decide to stop taking her medication and her condition would rapidly deteriorate. When Nelly was back at home, she realized that her husband had changed a lot. He would frequently go out at night and barely paid any attention to her.
She also noticed that Daisy would pay them a visit when Ron was at home. So Nelly told Daisy that if she wanted to visit her, she should come to visit when Ron wasn’t at home as the two of them needed their privacy.
In addition, Nelly had the feeling that Daisy had a crush on her husband and didn’t want her around at all. Daisy, who was having an affair with Ron, didn’t want to give up so quickly. She went to Ron and demanded he put his wife in her place. Ron was afraid she would leave and he did as she asked.
He went to his wife and asked her to back off. He told her that Daisy has been a huge help with the children. He said that Daisy also made sure that the household was running smoothly. He added he would like to keep it that way until she recovered. He promised he would get rid of Daisy the minute she was back on her feet……..
Celia and Alfred had 3 children, one girl and two boys. The couple lived all their lives in Toronto, as well as their immediate family. Alfred worked as a bus driver during the day. In addition, he would work a couple of nights during the week as a taxi driver. He had a steady job and a fixed salary.
Celia worked as a cashier at one of the local Costco stores. They worked very hard to support their family, and wanted better lives for their children. Toronto is a very expensive city and Celia and Alfred came from families where money was always an issue. As a result, they could not continue their education past high school as they had to work to help support their families.
Nelly was their oldest child and was her father’s favourite. He never said no to her. He always did his best to fulfill her request whenever she asked for something. However, his wife Celia was more strict with her, and favoured their sons. Many times Nelly thought that her mother was jealous of the relationship she had with her father. She did all kinds of things on purpose which she knew would aggravate her mother. Consequently, they would fight all the time.
Anyway, Nelly had a best friend named Daisy. The two of them knew each other since they were in kindergarten. Daisy was an only child, and was well behaved with good manners in addition to being a good student. She was the kind of pupil that teachers liked but her classmates didn’t. Daisy wasn’t an attractive girl and was unpopular with her fellow students.
On the other hand, Nelly was a good looking girl and very popular but didn’t like doing schoolwork, and her low marks reflected this. Her teachers would complain about her all the time to her parents. Nelly was also a party girl. She liked to have a good time with her friends and enjoy life. Every time her mother wanted to punish her, she would stop her from leaving the house to meet her friends. But her father would always step in and say to his wife “she’s young, let her go out and enjoy herself.”
Nelly’s dream was to be a hair stylist. This meant that university was not on the table for her. Whenever Nelly spoke about her dream which was to open a hair salon and spa, her mother would say she would do this over her dead body. Instead, Celia wanted her daughter to be a lawyer or banker.
Unfortunately Alfred suddenly died from a heart attack when Nelly was 17. It had such a strong effect on her that it seemed she would never get over it. She didn’t go out of the house for a long time and was crying a lot. Her friend Daisy comforted her during this difficult period. She would come over to Nelly’s house to keep her company and look after her.
Nelly stopped regularly attending school until one day she completely dropped out. She said she didn’t want to go back there anymore. Instead she decided to look for a job as there were some debts to pay plus she wanted to pay the day to day living expenses.
Celia was strongly opposed to her daughter’s plans and freaked out when she first heard them. She begged her not to drop out of school. Celia told Nelly that her father was spinning in his grave as he would have wanted her to continue with her education. In addition, Celia told her she would manage with the expenses. But nothing she said could change Nelly’s mind, and she started working in a beauty salon much sooner than her mother expected.
A few months later she went to a party and met Ron who was serving in the Canadian navy. He made a good impression on her. He was wearing his uniform and Nelly thought he was very handsome. They were staring at each other the entire evening until Ron had the courage to walk over and speak with her.
Ron was 19 years old and the 3rd generation of his family to serve in the navy. His father and grandfather both reached high ranks during their years of service. Ron served part of the time in Canada and the rest abroad. They started dating right away but after a few months he had to leave Canada as the ship he was serving on was sent away on an assignment.
It was very hard for Nelly to be without him. She would write him a letter every day. She missed him terribly and couldn’t wait for him to return home. Her mother noticed that Nelly was barely eating, which she was quite upset about. Celia didn’t think that Nelly and Ron were a good match because she felt they couldn’t have a successful long distance relationship.
Anyway, Ron proposed to Nelly when she turned 18 and she accepted. Celia tried to talk her daughter out of it when she heard the news. She told her she still young and had her whole life ahead of her. But Nelly didn’t want to hear what her mother had to say.
As well, Ron’s parents didn’t like it when they heard he wanted to marry someone who didn’t finish high school. They also didn’t understand why he wanted to get married before he even turned 20. However, they quickly understood the big rush to get married when they found out Nelly was pregnant…………
A few years ago I met a lady who relocated to Canada with her family. Jane loved to cook and would invite people she met over to her home for dinner to socialize with them. She would always talk about what a good cook she was. For example, she said she made an excellent squash soup and I should try it one day.
The first time she invited me over to her house, I told her I was a very picky eater. I said I didn’t eat garlic or uncooked onion, among many other things. In fact, I said she shouldn’t invite me. I suggested she invite someone else who would enjoy her food and would be more easygoing than me.
But Jane didn’t want to hear my excuses. She wanted me to come for dinner and meet her family and friends. She said “oh, you simply must come, I’ll make my famous squash soup.” I went to her house and the first course was the famous squash soup. I must say that when I first saw it, it looked amazing. It was a bright orange color and very thick.
The host told everyone not to eat before coming to her house because there would be a lot of food. I did as she asked, which meant that I was very hungry by the time I got there. The minute I put a spoonful of soup in my mouth, I tasted a strong garlic flavor. I felt like I wanted to throw up and my face changed color. It tasted as though she made garlic soup with squash……..
Jane was sitting close to me and noticed that something was wrong. She asked me “what’s the matter, is it missing some salt?” I said, “no, it’s missing some squash. I’m sorry, I thought I mentioned that I don’t eat garlic.” Jane said “oh, I’m really sorry, I completely forgot.” Fortunately there were some slices of fresh bread on the table. I ate a few pieces and this got some of the garlic taste out of my mouth. I was so hungry by this time that I could have eaten a horse.
The main course for dinner was pizza. Jane came over to me and said “don’t worry, I’m going to look after you.” After she served everyone pizza, she brought over a plate with a few pieces of partly cooked dough with some tomato sauce smeared on them. She said to me “here, this has no garlic in it.” I wanted to ask her where is the cheese. Just because I don’t eat garlic doesn’t mean I don’t like cheese. I didn’t say this to her, although it was on the tip of my tongue.
However, I ate one piece and left the rest for her. I helped her clean off the table and do the dishes at the end of the evening. What a sucker huh…….
People need to understand that if they put too much garlic in food, it overwhelms the taste of the other ingredients. Garlic can not be the main course. It should be used sparingly to enhance the other flavors found in the dish.
Nevertheless, me and my luck. I live in an apartment building and every time someone cooks something, the smell spreads from one end of the floor to the other. They frequently cook fish and you don’t have to be a genius to know that my neighbours are using an enormous amount of garlic in their cooking.
In addition, they are probably not opening any windows in their apartment when they cook. This means that the smell of their cooking goes underneath their door and out into the hallway. The smell is terrible. It is so stinky. It’s as though they are cooking their stinky sneakers and worn socks after they wear them all day in warm weather along with a kilo of garlic…… 🙂 🙂
Anyway, there are some people who say that the strong smell from garlic is because people don’t know how to prep it before adding it to a dish. I’ve heard that there is at least one way to mellow the taste of garlic and make it better tasting.
They suggest you peel the cloves, put them in a container and pour olive oil on them. Once the cloves are covered by the oil, you place the container in the refridgerator. This process saturates the garlic with oil. It also mellows the flavour and softens the cloves. It produces an oil that can be used for cooking, and to drizzle over breads and pizza.
However, let’s not forget the health benefits of garlic. The Cleveland Clinic lists a number of ways garlic boosts your health. Firstly, it boosts your immune system. They quoted a study which says that middle aged women who routinely ate garlic, fruit and vegetables had a 35% lower risk of getting colon cancer.
In addition, garlic oil works as an anti inflammatory and has a positive effect on your arteries and blood pressure too. Experts caution not to overdo it by eating too much garlic because it can cause stomach problems, headaches and fatigue. It can also interact with certain medications such as blood thinners.
As an aside, I have to mention that my husband loves garlic but he tries not to eat it because of me. Is this a sacrifice or what?…………
In my opinion, the world is divided into 2 groups, those who love garlic and they are the majority. And those who can not tolerate it and they are the minority.
I don’t like garlic. There, I said it. Every time I’ve said this, I feel people look at me in surprise as though I just came out of the closet. They always say “what….. how can you not like garlic?” Well, I can’t stand the smell and it’s lingering aftertaste. In addition, I really do not like garlic breath on others and this is an understatement. It makes me uncomfortable and is unbearable. Here are some of my unpleasant experiences I’ve had with garlic 😦 😦
I remember I went to see a dentist a long time ago for a checkup. My regular dentist was away and he was filling in for him. Even though he was wearing a mask, the minute he came close to me, I smelled an overwhelming odor of garlic on his breath. The smell was so strong It was as though he was chewing on a head of garlic before I came especially for me……
I tried to breath through my mouth so I wouldn’t have to smell it, but I couldn’t do it. I felt like I wanted to vomit after the appointment was over. You would think that of all people, a dentist would be particularly careful he didn’t have a case of bad breath… But he really dropped the ball in this case.
However, a few years ago my beloved brother and his family took me to a fish restaurant for my birthday. I was very happy as I love fish. The waitress came to our table and took our orders. A short time later, the fish dishes were served to us, along with crunchy french fries and fresh salads along with other side dishes. They also brought plates piled high with fresh pitas straight from the oven. It goes without saying that everything looked great and our mouths were watering.
As I was very hungry, I could barely wait to start eating. I dug into the food right away, but after a few bites of the fish, I realized it contained whole cloves of garlic. I immediately stopped eating and called the waitress over. I asked her to replace my stuffed fish with another dish that had no garlic in it whatsoever. I told her I can not tolerate the taste of garlic.
While I was waiting for my new meal, I glanced at my brother and sister-in-law who were both enjoying every mouthful of garlic. I was looking at them in shock. They looked like two garlic cannibals 🙂 🙂 And their two young children were both eating cloves of garlic as it was candy. Even the waitress couldn’t take her eyes off them. It’s not enough that they ate a ton of garlic, they also told me they would have eaten mine if I hadn’t asked to replace my dish with a different one 🙂
Anyway, since I don’t like garlic I stopped myself from going to restaurants. This is because menus never list garlic as a major ingredient, which I consider to be insensitive to diners. Garlic has a huge impact on the flavour of a dish. Therefore, when you order a vegetable dish you expect to taste vegetables and not just garlic. There is an overuse of garlic in cooking in general and I can’t stand that.
When I moved to Canada I noticed that there is a tradition to invite newcomers over for a meal. And I though this was a great idea. I saw this as an opportunity to introduce myself and meet new people. I gladly accepted their invitations as all of the hosts were my husband’s family and friends.
But then I realized I could not eat what they were serving as most of the dishes had such a strong taste of garlic, so I stopped going. I didn’t want to insult anyone, but I didn’t want to suffer either. Unfortunately there were a few people who were offended and thought I was a snob. I tried to explain to them that I am a little bit problematic with food. Actually a little bit is an understatement 🙂 I said that I would be more than happy to meet them for coffee and cake. But I guess some did not like it, because tradition is tradition.
As I said, most people love garlic and consider it to be quite a delicious food. But sadly, it has a dark side as well. It is one of those foods that makes you smell bad after you eat it, especially if you eat it raw. According to research done at Michigan State University, the reason for the smell is the oils found in garlic make their way to the lungs and to the skin pores. This means that not only is the breath affected but one’s skin can also smell from garlic……
Peter was inconsolable at the funeral. He was crying hysterically and was draped over Eli’s coffin asking him for forgiveness. Cheryl was mostly quiet and restrained as compared to Peter. She looked lost and sat there almost without moving. It was as if she was frozen. It was a heartbreaking sight to see her this way, and it was obvious she had taken medication to calm herself down.
The police asked Peter to come to the local precinct after the funeral to answer a few questions. They told him this is a routine procedure. He was asked to return to answer additional questions on two other occasions. Each time the questions became more specific, more pointed in nature. It was as though he was under investigation………
Two weeks after Eli’s body was found, Peter was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of his son. Peter denied again and again he had anything to do with the murder. However, he couldn’t explain how a button from the shirt he was wearing the day Eli disappeared was found inside the bag containing the boy’s body.
The police also found some of his blood on Eli’s shirt and he couldn’t explain this either. But they had a theory about that. They thought that Peter scratched his arm without noticing while he was with Eli in the forest. When he lifted the boy off the ground after he killed him, his injured arm rubbed against the boy’s shirt and stained it. Furthermore, there was other evidence linking him to the murder.
Peter repeatedly told the police he was innocent and would never deliberately hurt his son. But after a while he broke down and confessed to the murder. He had no choice but to admit to the crime when confronted with all the evidence. Peter looked like the weight of the world was now off his shoulders after he confessed.
Suddenly his face changed. He looked cold and without any feelings. He said that Cheryl got pregnant against his wishes even though he never wanted to be a father. He added that he felt as though she stole his sperm. Peter started planning to kill his son after the court ordered him to pay child support. He was enraged and wanted to hurt her so badly that he never thought about the consequences. Besides, he never had much feeling for Eli anyways.
He looked for a place to carry out his plot and then it dawned on him that he could do it in the local conservation area which was nearby to where he grew up. Peter knew the area well as he explored it several times. Now that he had a location picked out, all he needed was the right opportunity. When his girlfriend Barbara told him she couldn’t stay with him the entire vacation, he thought this is the right time.
He went to the spot a few days before and dug a hole and prepared the area. After his girlfriend left, he told his son he would take him to see birds and rabbits in the forest. Then he took Eli to the heavily forested part of the conservation area. He led his son to the area he had prepared before.
While they were walking around looking at the birds and rabbits, he slowly gave the boy poisoned apple juice which he prepared ahead of time. The detectives felt sick to their stomachs while Peter was describing what he had done to his own flesh and blood. They had to control themselves from beating him to a pulp… Anyway, it did not take long for the poison to take effect. Eli collapsed not far from the grave his father dug for him. He fell on a rock when he collapsed. He injured his head and blood was flowing from his scalp.
Peter was so cruel he did not even check to see if the boy was still alive, and put him in a plastic bag. He then put the body in the grave and covered it with earth. After he buried his son he stayed in the forest for another two hours and then called the police.
Obviously he didn’t dig a deep enough grave otherwise the heavy rain would not have exposed it. The rain washed away the earth covering the body and the bag was clearly visible to anyone walking past it. The detectives thought that a wild animal tore the bag open but somehow didn’t touch the remains.
Brian was one of the veteran detectives investigating Eli’s disappearance. He met Peter the day after the boy vanished. Peter was wearing a denim shirt with metal buttons and Brian noticed that one of the buttons was missing. Brian suspected right from the start that Peter was somehow involved in the disapperance.
He watched all of the interviews Peter had with the police and on TV and thought he was putting on a big act. Thus, he wasn’t surprised when they found the button from Peter’s shirt inside the bag which contained Eli’s body. He also remembered the boy’s funeral where Peter made a lot of noise crying and sobbing in front of everyone. Yet Brian was sure it was all fake and it was only to convince everyone watching him he was mourning the loss of his son.
After Peter confessed, Brian went with a female colleague to give Cheryl an update. Cheryl collapsed on hearing the news. Barbara was horrified when she heard that Peter murdered his son. She felt guilty that she had exposed her children to a murderer. She packed up Peter’s belongings that were in her apartment, and took them to his parents place. Shortly after that, she moved to a new apartment because she couldn’t bear the thought of living in an apartment that she shared with a murderer.
Peter’s picture was plastered all over the media throughout Canada. People hated him. Since there is no death penalty in Canada, he received the maximum penalty possible with no opportunity for parole. Members of the public were saying out loud that they hoped that the prisoners would take care of the situation and see to it that Peter received the death sentence he richly deserved……….
With Experience Comes Wisdom 