Well, I never really knew you ’til you said goodbye~Vince Gill If you want to know something about bereavement that slides from ‘normal’ to ‘complicated’ in a moment of revelation, due to unimaginable circumstances, you need look no further than… Continue Reading
In the totally bizarre way in which the world–and bereavement–works, sometimes you’re in the right (or should I say wrong?) place, at the right time, to be a mourner you don’t feel yourself to be, in a role you never wanted… Continue Reading
I planned each charted course/Each careful step along the byway/And more, much more than this/ I did it my way . . ./I faced it all and I stood tall/And did it my way.” It was the year of the… Continue Reading
My son–now a professor, an educator of today’s youth, a scientist in search of truth–was, in his salad days, a world-class faker. He particularly perfected his art when it came to faking illness in order to get out of school.… Continue Reading
I am not just the founding mother, but am also the most decorated member of my children’s fan club. At rallies I come equipped with buttons, balloons and noise-makers, wearing electric blue shirts with the kids’ names inscribed. I’m a… Continue Reading
“Do not put your faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say.” ~William W. Watt I’m going to really go out on a limb here. Forthcoming: one of those big assumptions about humankind… Continue Reading
I have nothing against William Cowper. A wildly popular 18th century poet, greater poetic minds than mine–Samuel Coleridge, William Wordsworth–thought he was the cat’s pajamas. But when he leaves his subject base of nature and Christianity and steps his foot into… Continue Reading
“There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.” ~ Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes Recently, within a span of 5 years, I found myself in the homes of two of the administrators from the local Jewish… Continue Reading
Kelly had been a real touchy-feely all her life, so her choice about how she wanted to go surprised me–but, as I reminded her distraught daughters, it was her choice that mattered. It’s become trendy nowadays to make our last… Continue Reading
My mother likes to compliment herself on her cooking. “That was truly delicious!” she’ll exclaim, her mouth still full of her last bite of a fancy beef stew. “And I was able to make it during such a hectic day.… Continue Reading
“I Will Survive!”: But Can You Teach That To The Armed Forces? And, really–can you? That’s the question on everybody’s mind? For we began discussion with the devastating suicide statistics in the military, which contrasted so starkly with those of… Continue Reading
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. ~Flora Whittemore We spend our lives making decisions that will impact the rest of our days on this earth. We pick a career, select a mate, decide to have… Continue Reading
