“Acceptance is such an important commodity that

some have called it the first law of personal growth.”

– Peter McWilliams, Life 101

Back in the 1960s few country roads in Northern Alberta had gravel. Many, in fact, still resembled wagon trails: rough, narrow and when wet, nearly impassable. The swelling clay, common to the part of Alberta where I grew up, clung to our boots and wrapped around car and truck tires. Often on a horribly rainy day our family would venture onto these roads for groceries and such. My father’s philosophy was, "Why waste a good day on such endeavours?"

One spring morning, with ruts hub cap-deep with water, we set off for town. Father was skilled at driving through the mud but a flat tire soon caused us to become stuc...

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