Rose's Cantina

Embed from Getty Images Ever since I was a wee kid, I dreaded Father's Day. When you're a fatherless daughter, you don't get to join in any of the fun, or make cards and homemade gifts. Thank goodness, Father's Day was never celebrated in my public school. We always made some sort of homemade gift for mom on her day, but dad never got a mention. I guess that's because fathers in the early Sixties weren't around very much. A lot of other people's dads were veterans who returned shell shocked and distant. They drank or sat and watched television instead of coaching Little League. I never knew this growing up. I'd always had the impression that most dads were kind of assholes not like the dude in Father Knows Best. In fact, if I am to be honest here, I can say that after watching other kids' dads, I was glad I didn't have one. Dads scared me. They were like clowns with balloons that popped. For a lot of kids, dads were alwa

Embed from Getty Images One. That is the number of people I know who are missing and presumed dead. That one person is my cousin Ashley Simpson . Fifty is the number of dead at the hands of a deranged gunman in Orlando, Florida. Fifty-three is the number of wounded in that horrific act, a senseless rat-a-tat-ta of a man who wanted to kill people for no other reason than they chose different people to love. Regardless of whether we mourn the one or the many, we are living in a war zone, and waging a war against an evil we cannot defeat, an evil bred from the brain or the loins, an evil that has no respect for humanity. There is no difference between the ONE we are mourning and/or remembering and the 50/53. We are all fighting the same battle. We are all quietly weeping, feeling helpless against the rage of the beast the lies inside men and women who chose to kill, and maim and dismember. But we must remember. We are not helpless. We are powerful. And our voices

Those who read this space regularly know that my family is frantic with worry about my cousin, Ashley Simpson , who has been missing 40 days now. Both her boyfriend and her landlord reported that she had left with no money, no car, no resources from her Salmon Arm, B.C. home after a domestic dispute over money. Since then, there has been no trace of her. The RCMP now considers this a homicide investigation, but the family has not heard any updates from them in more than three weeks. Just after she disappeared, her father, relatives and friends set out from St. Catharines on a long trek to B.C. to find her. They all left their work, and their lives, intent on finding Ashley who had always kept in touch. It was completely out of character for her to lose touch. Her parents have been consumed by worry. They have been unable to work, and are having a hard time functioning. As a result, they are now relying on donations from family and friends to keep the wolf from the door.

My cousin John Simpson is nearly frantic with worry. He's unable to do anything, maybe a bit of gardening, but his thoughts are consumed by the fact his daughter has been missing in Salmon Arm, B.C. since April 28th. He's also frustrated that the police have not provided any update on the case, which the RCMP is now considering a homicide. Three weeks have gone by, and not word one. Now, of course, we all know that the RCMP doesn't comment on active cases -- doesn't want to show its hand -- but it would be helpful to the family to get some news, any news. John is vowing to continue to keep Ashley's image and story in the public eye. Meanwhile, the family and friends of Ashley participated on a walk to raise money for Gillian's Place in Niagara which helps and shelters women who come from violent circumstances. The team came 5th for overall donations, and won the award for Team Spirit. Kudos to Team Ashley for doing for others when they

Today, I got told off by Ben Mulroney , the CTV go-to fellar who apparently will, along with Anne Marie Mediwake, be replacing the crew at the middle aged Canada AM . In case, you didn't hear, the AM crew was unceremoniously punted yesterday and had its last show this morning. "Hey Rosalita," wrote Ben on Twitter. "A couple is 2. Idol was on for 6 (excruciating) years. Oh, and at the time , it was the highest rated English language show of all time ." Inserted comment mine. The Count was responding to my Tweet reminding everybody that Canadian Idol was cancelled after two seasons. My bad. I must have turned it off after the second season. I couldn't believe the lightening speed at which Ben responded to my Tweet. He must have the skin of a grape crushed under Lucille Ball's feet. I was indeed surprised that someone of his celebrity would give a shit what I said. Oh well. I couldn't help sharing his Tweet on Facebook where many of my

In recent months, I've been helping to support my good friend Jennette through the end of life process, as she watched her father Jim transition to his next life after a lengthy battle with heart disease and cancer. It's been a tough road for Jennette who lost her husband Roger just two years ago, also in the month of May. She's also battled oral cancer, and has had to live with disfigurement to her face, and mouth. She's a tough cookie, our Jennette. She faced down the doctors who wanted her to have radiation which would have meant further disfigurement and the loss of her entire set of teeth. They wanted to do radiation to be absolutely sure the cancer would not return but, as they say, the cure would have been worse than the cancer, so she passed on it. Jennette and I have been friends for more than 30 years. She and Roger helped me through the debilitating loss of both my own mother, and my marriage. I lost both within a year and it nearly killed me. L