The kitchen clock counts time – the seconds, minutes and hours of our lives – and the calendar marks the days, weeks and months as they pass. But life is so much more than just the accumulation of time. It's also an ever-increasing collection of personal moments: some joyous, some mundane, some painful and some entirely unforgettable.
In tribute to the power of all of those mini-epiphanies that make time stand still – if only for a moment – we asked a few of our favourite Canadians to share their best 2011 moments with us.
Lean on me
"It wasn't my first federal election night broadcast, or being in London for William and Kate’s wedding. It was being by my best friend's side at her mother's funeral. We've been friends since Grade 1 and though the years have taken us miles apart and down different roads, we've kept the faith in our friendship. Her mom was a simple person whose acts of kindness and generosity left a mark on many. That I could be there to say farewell and to help ease her daughter's grief was an honour."
– Dawna Friesen, anchor, "Global National"
Endless summer
"I work extra hard throughout the year to carve out special family time at the cottage with my husband, our kids, and our extended families. The simple pleasures of taking 'rock walks' on our island while holding hands with one of our daughters, or watching them gain confidence jumping off the diving board, are the moments I will most certainly treasure as memories when the kids are no longer so small."
– Sarah Richardson, host of HGTV's "Sarah's House," "Design Inc." and "Sarah 101"
No place like home
"The best moment of the year? Actually living in my home! Two years ago the 'west-end arsonist' in Toronto chose to torch my house and I was out for more than a year while it was being rebuilt. This has been my first year back. To be home and have it finished and beautiful, and to be able to entertain and to garden, has been amazing! As Dorothy said: 'There's no place like home.'"
– Rex Harrington, artist-in-residence, The National Ballet of Canada
All kinds of capable
"I wrote a book this year, which at times I very much doubted I could do. Similarly, getting fit again; the satisfaction of knowing that at 54 I can recover that feeling of being physically capable was a journey. And watching my children start to come into their own as adults."
– Arlene Dickinson, entrepreneur, marketing maven and judge on CBC's "Dragon's Den"
Page 1 of 3 -- Discover what fashion expert Jeanne Beker and acclaimed author Ami McKay are most thankful for on page 2.
