Features
How to Rebuild a Relationship When One Partner Has a Chronic Illness or Disability
Rebuilding a relationship when one partner has a chronic illness or disability can feel overwhelming, but it is absolutely possible. Life may look different, but love, laughter, and connection can still grow. What matters most is learning how to support each other with patience and understanding.
Both partners face new emotions, new limits, and sometimes new fears. But with honest communication and small daily acts of care, a relationship can become even stronger than before. Together, you can build a bond that is steady, supportive, and full of heart.
Rebuilding Trust Through Better Communication
Rebuilding trust through better communication is one of the most important steps when one partner has a chronic illness or disability. Trust can feel fragile when life changes suddenly, but clear and honest communication can help you reconnect and feel secure again.
It’s about understanding each other, listening carefully, and sharing your feelings without fear; support that professional couples counselling can guide you through.
Talk Openly About Needs and Fears
When a partner has a chronic illness or disability, everyday life can bring unexpected challenges. The first step to rebuilding trust is to talk openly about how you feel and what you need. This isn’t about blaming each other—it’s about letting your partner know your struggles and listening to theirs. Being honest about fears, frustrations, and limits helps both partners feel understood and valued.
Use Calm and Honest Language
The way you communicate matters as much as what you say. Calm, honest words prevent misunderstandings and reduce tension. Avoid raising your voice or blaming each other for difficulties. Instead, focus on expressing your emotions clearly and respectfully. Simple phrases like “I feel…” or “I need…” can make conversations less stressful and more productive.
Check In Regularly
Trust grows over time, and regular check-ins are key. Set aside moments to talk about how things are going, how you’re coping, and how you can support each other better. These conversations don’t need to be long—they just need to be consistent. Regular check-ins show your partner that you care, that you are listening, and that you are committed to rebuilding trust together.
Avoid Blame During Tough Moments
Every relationship faces difficult days, but focusing on blame can damage trust quickly. Instead, approach challenges as a team. When both partners work together to solve problems, it strengthens the relationship and shows that you can rely on each other, even during tough times.
Understanding the New Reality
Understanding the new reality is the first step when one partner has a chronic illness or disability. Life changes in ways you might not expect, and both partners need to adjust together. Accepting these changes doesn’t mean giving up—it means learning how to live fully and love deeply in a new situation.
Recognize How Life Has Changed
A chronic illness or disability often changes daily routines, responsibilities, and energy levels. Things that were simple before may now feel challenging. Recognizing these changes is not about feeling sorry for yourselves—it’s about seeing the situation clearly. When both partners understand what has shifted, it becomes easier to find ways to cope together.
Accept That Roles May Shift
Sometimes one partner may take on more responsibilities, while the other may need more support. This can feel frustrating or unfair, but it’s a natural part of adjusting to new circumstances. Accepting role changes helps reduce tension and builds a foundation for teamwork.
Focus on Mutual Support
In a healthy relationship, both partners support each other emotionally, even if physical tasks change. Asking for help is okay, and offering help without judgment strengthens trust. Small acts of care, like checking in on each other’s feelings or celebrating little successes, make a big difference.
Build a Shared Understanding
Understanding the new reality also means talking openly about expectations, limits, and hopes. When both partners share their thoughts and feelings, it creates a sense of unity. This shared understanding helps the relationship feel stronger and more resilient, even when challenges arise.
By recognizing changes, adjusting roles, and supporting each other, couples can navigate this new reality together and build a relationship that grows stronger despite challenges.
Rebuilding Trust Through Better Communication
Rebuilding trust through better communication is essential when one partner has a chronic illness or disability. Life can throw unexpected challenges, and these changes sometimes create tension or misunderstandings. Open, honest conversations can help both partners feel understood, supported, and emotionally connected again.
Talk Openly About Needs and Feelings
The first step in rebuilding trust is sharing your thoughts, fears, and needs openly. Chronic illness or disability often brings frustration, fatigue, and uncertainty. Talking about these feelings without blaming each other creates a safe space. When both partners are honest about what they need, it strengthens understanding and emotional closeness.
Use Calm and Respectful Language
How you speak matters just as much as what you say. Calm, respectful words reduce misunderstandings and prevent arguments from escalating. Simple phrases like “I feel…” or “I need…” can help communicate emotions clearly. Avoiding blame or criticism ensures that conversations remain productive and supportive.
Check In Regularly
Trust grows when communication is consistent. Set aside time to check in with each other about how you are coping, what support is needed, and how the relationship is feeling. Regular check-ins show that you care, that you are listening, and that you are committed to rebuilding trust together.
Approach Challenges as a Team
Difficult days will come, but blaming each other only creates distance. Treat problems as a shared challenge rather than a personal failure. Working together to solve issues reinforces trust and strengthens your bond, even during the hardest times.
By talking openly, using respectful language, and staying connected through regular check-ins, couples can rebuild trust and create a stronger, more supportive relationship.
Strengthening Emotional and Physical Connection
Strengthening emotional and physical connection is key when one partner has a chronic illness or disability. Changes in health can make closeness feel harder, but it’s still possible to maintain intimacy and feel connected. Small, consistent efforts help keep love and affection alive.
Find New Ways to Show Love
Sometimes the ways you used to connect physically or emotionally may need to change. Holding hands, giving hugs, leaving supportive notes, or spending quiet time together can be just as meaningful as before. Showing love in ways that suit your current situation helps both partners feel valued and cared for.
Prioritize Quality Time Together
Even short, simple moments can strengthen your bond. Watching a favorite show, sharing a meal, or taking a brief walk together can create emotional closeness. Focus on being fully present during these moments, rather than worrying about what can’t be done.
Keep Intimacy Alive in Simple Ways
Intimacy doesn’t always have to be physical. Sharing thoughts, expressing gratitude, or reminiscing about happy memories can deepen connection. Finding small, meaningful ways to connect emotionally helps both partners feel secure and supported.
Celebrate Small Wins Together
Acknowledging achievements, progress, or acts of kindness builds positivity in the relationship. Celebrating small wins reminds both partners of their teamwork and strengthens emotional resilience. Even tiny moments of joy can create lasting closeness.
Growing Together as a Stronger Team
Growing together as a stronger team is essential when one partner has a chronic illness or disability. Challenges can feel overwhelming, but facing them together can make your relationship stronger and more resilient. Teamwork, understanding, and shared responsibility build a lasting bond.
Share Responsibilities Fairly
Chronic illness or disability can shift daily responsibilities, so it’s important to divide tasks in a way that feels fair. Open discussions about what each partner can manage reduce stress and prevent resentment. Working together shows respect for each other’s limits and strengths.
Ask for Help When Needed
It’s okay to seek support from family, friends, or professionals. Getting help doesn’t mean weakness—it means you are committed to keeping the relationship healthy. Asking for guidance, advice, or practical support can ease burdens and strengthen trust.
Plan for the Future Together
Talking about long-term goals, expectations, and possible challenges helps you both feel prepared and connected. Planning together ensures that decisions consider each partner’s needs, creating security and confidence in the relationship.
Stay Hopeful and United
Even when days are tough, focusing on what you can do as a team builds resilience. Celebrating successes, supporting each other through struggles, and maintaining hope helps both partners feel empowered. Facing challenges together strengthens the sense that you can overcome anything as a couple.
By sharing responsibilities, asking for support, planning ahead, and staying united, couples can grow stronger together. Chronic illness or disability may change life, but it can also deepen trust, love, and teamwork, creating a relationship that is stronger than ever.
Conclusion
A chronic illness or disability does not end a relationship; it reshapes it. With empathy, teamwork, and steady communication, couples can rebuild trust, deepen love, and stand strong together. Every step you take as a team helps you create a relationship that is kinder, closer, and built to last.
Features
Will the Iranian Regime Collapse?
By HENRY SREBRNIK When U. S. President Donald Trump restored “maximum sanctions” pressure against Iran a year ago, he was clear about its goals: Deny Iran a nuclear weapon, dismantle its terror proxy network and stop its ballistic missile program.
The government in Tehran has fended off through violence and repression previous large-scale protests but now may limit or hold its fire. After all, Trump has been willing to go where no U.S. president has, including the authorization of a strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity last year and the recent capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Trump has demonstrated that his government is willing to use military measures to overthrow an enemy regime, and Tehran was, perhaps surprisingly, one of the closest allies of Maduro. The two countries were united by their approach to international sanctions and their ability to survive in American enmity.
Over the past three decades, this combination of political sympathy and anti-American rhetoric developed into a complex web of cooperation involving oil, finance, industry and security.
Since Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power in 1999, relations between Tehran and Caracas tightened significantly. During his first visit to Iran in 2001, Chavez declared that he had arrived “to help pave the way for peace, justice, stability, and progress in the 21st century.”
Nearly 300 economic, infrastructure, gas, and oil agreements were signed, worth billions of dollars. At one point, Venezuela even considered selling F-16 fighter jets to Tehran, while Iran supplied Venezuela with advanced Mohajer-6 drones. All this now comes to an end.
Maduro’s removal constitutes a severe blow to the operational base of Tehran in South America. With Maduro gone, “Iran is now in the eye of the storm,” observed Fawaz Gerges, Middle East analyst and professor of international relations at London’s School of Economics and Political Science.
“The big lesson out of the fall of the Venezuelan regime is not Colombia, not Greenland,” he said. “The Iranians know that Iran is the next target. Not only of the Trump administration, but also of the Benjamin Netanyahu government” in Israel.
Israel, which has long perceived Iran as an existential threat, launched 12 days of what it described as pre-emptive strikes on military and nuclear sites in Iran last June, with U.S. war planes attacking three major nuclear facilities.
They now see Iran as being cornered, extremely vulnerable and weak at this moment. “I think they’re piling on the pressure. They’re hoping that they could really, basically bring about regime change in Iran,” Gerges added.
On Jan. 12, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian shifted focus away from Iran’s stuttering economy and suppression of dissent and towards his country’s longstanding geopolitical adversaries, Israel and the United States. Speaking on state broadcaster IRIB, Pezeshkian claimed that “the same people that struck this country” during Israel’s 12-day war last June were now “trying to escalate these unrests with regard to the economic discussion.
“They have trained some people inside and outside the country; they have brought in some terrorists from outside,” he charged, alleging that those responsible had attacked a bazaar in the northern city of Rasht and set mosques on fire.
“My assumption is that the Mossad is active in Tehran behind the scenes,” contended Ahron Bregman, who teaches at King’s College London and has written extensively on Israeli intelligence operations. “Israeli officials are unusually quiet.” There are clear instructions not to talk and “not to be seen to be involved in any way.”
“I’d be very surprised if Israeli agents were not active within Iran right now,” defence analyst Hamze Attar maintained. “They’re going to be doing everything they can to make sure these protests continue and escalate.”
But anything that Israel is up to will of course be covert. This restraint is a calculated approach taken to avoid disrupting a process of regime change that may be driven internally. Intervening would only confirm the regime’s claims that the protesters are “Zionist agents,” a charge that could shift popular anger onto the demonstrators and douse the movement.
“Any visible involvement would give the Iranians an excuse to intensify repression,” explained Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and former head of Iran research in an Israeli military intelligence branch
Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, who maintains he wants peace with Israel and the United States, suggests Iran faces a historic moment. “In all these years, I’ve never seen an opportunity as we see today in Iran. Iranian people are more than ever committed to bringing an end to this regime,” he stated. “By God, it is about time that Iran gets its opportunity to free itself from a tyrannical regime.”
Iranians have seen the regime and its backers exposed and humiliated by an American administration and Israel, and they are taking advantage of it. But it won’t be easy. This is a religious nomenklatura that will use all means at its disposal to hold on to power. Never underestimate their cruelty and resolve
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Features
New autobiography by Holocaust survivor Hedy Bohm – who went on to testify in trials of two Nazi war criminals
Book Review by Julie Kirsh, Former Sun Media News Research Director
My parents were Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivors who arrived in Toronto in 1951 without family or friends. In the late 50s my mother met Hedy Bohm outside of our downtown apartment and quickly connected with her. Both women had suffered the loss of all family in the Shoah. Over the years our families’ custom became sharing our dining table with the Bohm family for the Jewish high holidays. The tradition continues today with the second generation.
Hedy was born in 1928 in the city of Oradea in Romania. She was a pampered only child, adored by her father and very much attached to her mother. Although Hedy was an adolescent, she was kept from hearing about the rising anti-semitism around her in her hometown. She was protected and sheltered like any child. Memoirs from other adolescents like Elie Wiesel, aged 15 in Auschwitz, Samuel Pisar, liberated at 16, and Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, who was found in Buchenwald by American soldiers at age 8, made me wonder about the resilience and strength of children who survived like Hedy.
Hedy was only 16 years old when she walked through the gates of hell, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Hedy’s poignant retelling of this pivotal moment in her young life was the sudden separation from her father and moments later from her mother. Somehow Hedy’s mother got ahead of her upon their arrival at Auschwitz. Hedy called out to her. Her mother turned and they looked at each other. A Nazi guard prevented Hedy from joining her mother. Hedy has always been tormented by this moment of separation. Did her mother know that she was walking to her death?
Hedy writes that she was focused on survival in the camps. She concentrated on eating whatever food was given and keeping clean by washing daily in icy, cold water before the roll call. When she contracted diarrhea, she remembered her mother’s homemade remedy of gnawing on charred wood. Her naivete and innocence were overcome with a strong inner determination to stay alive so that she could see her mother again.
Hedy recounts the terrible hunger that everyone endured. One day, spotting some carrots in a warehouse, Hedy was appointed by her aunt to run and grab what she could. Luckily she evaded the armed guard who would have shot her on the spot.
On April 14, 1945, Hedy’s day of liberation, she learned the terrible fate of her mother. The return home for the survivors was a further tragedy when they realized the loss of family and community.
In her memoir, Hedy describes meeting Imre, an older boy from her town whom she eventually married. Their flight from Romania to Budapest to Pier 21 in Halifax to Toronto is documented in harrowing detail.
Hedy recounts how in Toronto no one wanted to know the stories of the survivors. This was a world before Eichmann’s trial in Israel in 1961 and the TV series, The Holocaust, in 1978. The floodgates for information from the survivors opened late in their lives.
In Toronto, after many failed enterprises, Imre and Hedy stumbled onto the shoe selling business. In 1959, they leased a small shoe store close to Honest Ed’s in downtown Toronto. Surprisingly, the business according to Hedy, became very profitable. Many years later, after Imre’s sudden death due to a heart attack, Hedy continued to manage their shoe business while taking care of her daughter, Vicky and son, Ronnie.
In 1996, Hedy was introduced to Rabbi Jordan Pearlson. Their love match made Hedy feel that she had been given a wonderful gift, late in life, which she welcomed.
Jordan died in 2008. Hedy endured and carried on with yoga and tai chi both as a teacher and devoted practitioner.
A new purpose in life opened up for Hedy when she was invited to be a speaker for the Holocaust Education Centre (now the Toronto Holocaust Museum). She spoke to mostly non-Jewish students whom she visited at their schools outside of Toronto.
Visiting Auschwitz with the March of the Living for the first time in 2010, Hedy faced her fears about returning to the place that held the horrors. She was fortunate to meet Jordana Lebowitz, a student from Toronto who developed a multimedia presentation called ShadowLight. Hedy’s contribution to teaching others about the Holocaust by sharing her experience, is immeasurable.
In 2014, Hedy was asked to be a witness at the trial of Oskar Groning , “the accountant of Auschwitz”, in Germany. In 2016, she appeared as a witness for the trial of the Nazi guard, Reinhold Hanning. He was sentenced to a mere five years in prison and Groning died before he could start his jail sentence. In having the courage to participate in these war criminal trials, Hedy spoke for her parents and all the innocents who could not speak for themselves.
Hedy’s talks to students always include an admonishment to be kind, to trust in themselves and work for the greater good. She rose above her own fears of sharing her story by speaking publicly.
Hedy’s story of survival and perseverance will remain a beacon to future generations, ensuring that hope and good will endure even in the worst of times.
Reflection
by Hedy Bohm
Published in 2026 by The Azrieli Foundation
To order a copy of the book go to https://memoirs.azrielifoundation.org/titles/reflection/
Features
Optimizing mobile wagering convenience with bassbet casino
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