Teena in Toronto

Wednesday, 31 December 2025

My 2025 year in books

Book ~ "For the Love of a Son: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Hope" (2025) Scott Oake

From Goodreads ~ When veteran broadcaster Scott Oake first held his infant son, Bruce, in his arms, he never imagined that Bruce would become a statistic in the losing battle to opioid abuse.

In those early days, Scott, a new father, watched Bruce with awe, marveling at the potential of his funny, charismatic boy. As Bruce got older, though, he struggled to fit in at school and began showing signs of having ADHD, including a streak of impulsiveness that often got him into trouble. Scott and his wife, Anne, did their best to support him, and for a time, he found community and belonging in boxing and local rap battles. But when Bruce was pulled into a world of drugs and gangs, Scott and Anne experienced a crash course in the reality of loving someone battling substance use disorder.

Then one quiet day in 2011, Scott got the phone call that every parent dreads. Bruce had accidentally overdosed. At just twenty-five, Scott’s vibrant, creative, first-born son was gone forever.

It was a loss that could have broken a man, a marriage, a family - but Scott, Anne, and their younger son, Darcy, instead turned the worst day of their lives into a way to help the thousands of Canadians struggling with addiction. After nearly a decade of fundraising and battling red tape and political machinations they launched the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, a free, revolutionary treatment centre staffed by addicts and alcoholics in recovery.

For the Love of a Son: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Hope by Scott Oake, a Canadian sportscaster, is an account of a father’s love in the face of loss. It follows Oake, his wife, Anne, and their younger son, Darcy, as he details his son, Bruce’s long and painful struggle with addiction. He describes what it was like as a family handling the fear, frustration and helplessness that go along with substance use. Oake tells of the many attempts to support Bruce, navigating treatment systems, relapses and moments of hope, while also dealing with the limits of what parents can control.

I hadn't heard of Oake but I saw his book listed in the Toronto Star's 2025 Canadian top 20 non-fiction best sellers so I checked it out as I like reading bios/autobios. I'm glad I did as it's quite a story. I liked the writing style and found it honest as he doesn't shy away from telling about the family's guilt, denial, anger and constant worry. As a head's up, there is swearing.

With Bruce's death from an overdose in 2011 at the age of 25, the family turned it into something positive in 2013 by creating a foundation so other families wouldn't have to go through what they went through and to honour Bruce's memory. They created the Bruce Oake Centre, a 50-bed, nonprofit residential treatment program for in Winnipeg, Manitoba (long-term live-in and community-based services are offered to men seeking recovery from substance use disorder). The planning has started on the creation of the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre too offer something similar for women.

Sunday, 28 December 2025

Diagonal garter stitch scarf

I knitted a diagonal garter stitch, which I found here, to donate.

I used a Caron Anniversary Cake Special Edition (the colour is Jewels and Jolly) and 6.5mm needles. It's about 4 feet long.

Cast on 3 stitches.

First Section - increases:

Row 1: KFB, knit to end, KFB.
Row 2: Knit all stitches.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until there are 23 stitches on the needle.

You can adjust the width of the scarf by knitting more or fewer stitches. The finished edges of your beginning triangle (the two edges that do not have live stitches) give a close indication of how wide your scarf will be when complete.

Middle Section - main length of the scarf:

Row 1: KFB, knit to end, k2tog.
Row 2: Knit all stitches.
Repeat these two rows until it's the length you want.

Final Section - decreases:

Row 1: Ssk, knit to end, k2tog.
Row 2: Knit all stitches.
Repeat these two rows until there are 3 stitches left on the needle. Bind off.

Saturday, 27 December 2025

Book ~ "The Deepest Fake" (2025) Daniel Kalla

From Goodreads ~ Liam Hirsch has it all - a loving family, a thriving career as CEO of an AI company, financial security and a bright future. But when he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness, just weeks after discovering his wife’s infidelity, his perfect life unravels. As he grapples with his fate, he prepares to face his final days on his own terms.

However unexplained events inside his company make him question everything - including his diagnosis. In a world of deepfake videos, synthetic voices and digital deception, couldn’t these technologies be weaponized against him? What if nothing is as it seems?

With time running out, Liam turns to Andrea DeWalt, a private investigator contending with her own feelings of betrayal, to help him uncover a conspiracy that threatens his life, his family and their future. In a world where nothing is as it seems and every digital footprint can be manipulated, who can Liam trust?

Liam is a successful AI company CEO who seems to have everything going for him until his life completely unravels. He suspects his wife is cheating on him so hires Andrea, a private investigator, who confirms her infidelity. But he's got other things to deal with as he has been diagnosed with ALS. Rather than have his family suffer as ALS robs him of his faculties, he decides to go the MAID route so he can leave on his own terms. But he wants to leave his family financially stable so he has to fix the strange inconsistencies within his company, push ahead with a breakthrough AI app and find out who is trying to sabotage his reputation and company. He can't do it alone so he asks Andrea to help.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it. I liked the write style and found it moved at a good pace. It's written in third person perspective with a focus on Liam and Andrea. There were so many people who could be messing with Liam so it was hard to figure out if someone really was. AI is moving us so quickly so it was interesting to see the creepy way it could be. As a head's up, there is swearing. I look forward to read other books by this author.

Fan and Feather Knitted Scarf

I knitted another scarf to donate using my favourite pattern, fan and feather.

I used a Caron Anniversary Cake Special Edition (the colour is Jewels and Jolly) and 6.5mm needles.

I cast on 24 stitches (a multiple of 18 plus 6).

Knit 3 rows of garter stitch for the border
Row 4: Knit
Row 5: K 3, P to last 3 stitches K3
Row 6: K3, *(K2 tog) 3 times, (yo, K1) 6 times, (K2 tog) 3 times, rep from * to last 3 sts K3
Row 7: Knit
Repeat Rows 4 - 7, keeping first and last 3 stitches in garter stitch, until piece measures desired length
Knit 3 more rows of garter stitch to make the bottom border
Cast off and darn in ends