Michael Meltzer

Is There A God?

When Cole died, my world stopped. Nothing made sense. It felt like my mind went in a million different directions at once. There were so many unanswered and unanswerable questions. Not to mention the overwhelming emotions I was feeling. I pictured my mind as an exploding galaxy with stars and asteroids going all over theContinue reading “Is There A God?”

Father and Son

2010. Father’s Day. Cole was fourteen years old. He wrote this in my card: “Mike- These past few years have been great. I’m really enjoying the whole father, son thing. Anyway, hope you have a great day. You truly are the best father ever. Love, Cole” As I’ve said before, he never called me DadContinue reading “Father and Son”

Coley-Boy & Me. As Close As Can Be.

I’ve been thinking about Cole so much I don’t know what to write first. I can’t seem to find a logical order to all my different thoughts. So I guess I’ll start by describing my relationship with Cole and telling you a little about who he is to provide context for future posts. MuchContinue reading “Coley-Boy & Me. As Close As Can Be.”

You and Me, Little Bear. We’re Writers Now.

I’ve never been a writer. English was my least favourite subject in high school and it showed on my report cards. Nothing changed when I went to university. I avoided courses with papers and much preferred 100% final exams. I’ve always enjoyed reading, though. Mostly for pleasure. The many required readings I had to doContinue reading “You and Me, Little Bear. We’re Writers Now.”

Of Friendship, Walking and Covid-19

I have a friend. His name is Dave. I never call him Dave, though. I call him by his last name, Aronoff. The way young boys tend to do. Because I’ve known him since we were young boys. And he calls me Meltzer, naturally. We met even before our grade one teacher made Aronoff, theContinue reading “Of Friendship, Walking and Covid-19”

The New Sixty

Have you ever asked a little kid to guess your age? How accurate were they? I’ll bet they weren’t even close. The last little kid I asked thought I was two years old. His second guess was one hundred. I don’t blame him. I was just like him. When my grade 1 class used toContinue reading “The New Sixty”

#1race1world

I wasn’t going to write about this. It’s a sensitive subject right now. I don’t want to offend anyone. Unintentionally, of course. But I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and this story has been gnawing to get out. So here goes. The four of us were out for a family dinner aContinue reading “#1race1world”

Ben

This one’s special. It’s about my dad, Ben Meltzer. He was born in Montreal. His parents immigrated to Canada in the 1920s. He grew up in the area of town known as The Main, near boulevard St. Laurent. His friends were also kids of Jewish immigrants. Their stomping ground included landmarks like Schwartz’s, Wilensky’s, Beauty’sContinue reading “Ben”

Mirror Mirror

Let’s try something. Ask someone to take a photo of you. Now look at that photo and compare what the camera sees to what you think you look like. I never see the same thing as the camera. Sometimes my posture isn’t as good as I think it is. Other times I look skinnier onContinue reading “Mirror Mirror”

Be THAT Person

Golf. It’s one of my passions. So please forgive me for the brief golf analogy I’m about to draw. It was the year 2000. A golfer named Hal Sutton was in an epic battle with Tiger Woods who was then in his prime. They were on the final hole. Hal needed to choose the rightContinue reading “Be THAT Person”