Challenge for today: Sing, “It’s beginning to look like Christmas,” preferably aloud, but if you must, in your head works, too. Now, using the same tune, sing, “It’s the day before the day before Christmas.” Because that’s today. My mom believes the day before the day before Christmas is a holiday. Why else would she…
November has wound its way to Thanksgiving. I find myself looking for the little things, the things I take for granted for which I seldom give thanks. What I’ve found is, well, a lot. Oxygen. Never do I consider that I will turn in for the night and wake without fresh air to breath. For…
Four of my family members recently dined at a restaurant chain in the Tri-County area. I attended a wedding and could not join them. The dinner turned out to be one I’m glad I missed—at least the start of it. A man with six sons—aged 8 and under—waited to be seated ahead of my family.…
A few years ago, I fell on a tennis court and cracked my skull—on top, just behind the crown. If you figure out how I managed to do that, let me know. Anyway, I somehow wound up on my stomach, my head glued to the hard, blue surface. I thought, “If it could just be…
I’m still laughing about my birthday. A good thing since I’m at the age where, rather than move forward each April, I’d prefer to go back a year. A package arrived a week before my special day. In it was a hot pink cloth bag with matching tissue paper and a painted birthday canvas signed…
I’m writing to the rhythm of raindrops. Raindrops pittering the windows and pattering my roof. Raindrops sliding down leaves and dripping from branches. Raindrops puddling dips in the road and watering grass. It’s a familiar sound, a familiar sight. August rode into September on a waterslide. As raindrops drizzle down my window panes, I realize why…
My husband highly recommends The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. The book focuses on Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister during WWII. It also provides great insight into his private life. Gary awarded the book five out of five stars, but he would give a thumb’s up to any book on Churchill. The man…
What is it they say to parents when their children marry? You’re not losing a daughter, you are gaining a son. Or, you’re not losing a son, you are gaining a daughter. I may not have it word for word, but I’m close. In my family, that statement has proved true, so far anyway. My…
“Look! You are a tropical storm!” That’s the random text I received from my daughter Kristen. I’ve been called a lot of things over the years—bossy, stubborn, generous—but never, as in ever, has anyone referred to me as a tropical storm. I suppose that, when I’m in a foul mood, I exhibit a few stormy…
When I finish a good read, I avoid turning to another book right away. Instead, I’ll turn to short stories, essays, or poetry. This week, I picked up one of my volumes of Letters of Note. Lifting the hardback copyis no easy feat. It’s a book that doubles for a barbell. It’s the size of a…
