Barbara Godin is a graduate of Athabasca University. She writes the “”Dear Barb” and the “Women of Interest” columns. As well, Barb has written many personal interest stories and enjoys connecting with others through her writing. She has been writing for The Voice since 2003.
If you enjoy reading Dear Barb, you can also purchase her curated collection, Dear Barb: Answers to Everyday Questions at her website, http://www.barbgodin.com.
Dear Barb: Hi, I recently put my dog down and now I’m wondering if I did the right thing. Tasha was a ten-year-old miniature schnauzer with lots of health issues. For the last two years she was on several expensive medications and they really weren’t making a difference in the quality of her life. When… Read more »
Dear Barb: I am the mother of a thirteen-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old boy. I am about halfway through my degree at AU and I work part time, so I am very busy trying to take care of everything. My husband is great; he helps out with the kids and does most of the cooking. … Read more »
Dear Barb: I have three young boys in public school. We live in a rural community in Ontario. Yesterday morning I received a phone call from the principal at my children’s school because my son had arrived at school at 8:50 am rather than 9:00 am. Ten minutes! I was enraged! I have had several… Read more »
Aung San Suu Kyi was born June 19, 1945, in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar) and was the first State Counsellor of Myanmar, which is comparable to our Prime Minister. During the 1988 Uprisings, Aung rose to power, becoming the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which was a party she formed,… Read more »
Dear Barb: Hi, my brother is addicted to opiates. His wife and two kids have suffered extensively from his addiction, as have my parents. He has tried many times to get off the drugs but it hasn’t worked. He mostly lives on the streets and has no income to speak of. He often shows up… Read more »
Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, under the name of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, in Uskup, Kosovo Vilayet, and died September 5, 1997, in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. Her father died when she was eight years old, leaving Teresa and her sister. She left home at the age of eighteen and never saw her… Read more »
Dear Barb: My husband and I’ve been married ten years. A couple years ago he had an affair while we were going through a bad time in our marriage. He was very sorry and begged for another chance. I’ve tried to forgive him to make our marriage work—we have two young children. But it’s been… Read more »
Indira Gandhi was born November 19, 1917. in India and died October 31, 1984, in New Delhi, India. She was the first, and, to this day, the only female Prime Minister of India. She was in office from January 24, 1966 to March 24, 1977 and again January 14, 1980 till her death in 1984. … Read more »
Dear Barb: My sister and I each have two children. Mine are 10 and 12 and hers are 16 and 18. We have always had different ways of raising them: I am a very protective parent, while my sister is more relaxed. We’ve had an ongoing debate about whether a parent should shield their children… Read more »
Margaret Thatcher was born October 13, 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England and died April 8, 2013, in Westminster, London. Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister and has been recognized as the most influential politician in British history. She was Prime Minister from May 4, 1979, to November 28,1990. As a result of her uncompromising… Read more »