My brother, Rick, died as a young man, not even 50 years old. A fire-fighter, Rick suffered related long term health issues. They caught up with him long before his time was due. Older than me, I looked up to him as many younger sisters do. I remember him as adventurous, jolly and complicated. However, … Read more
For me, information-overload is constant. While sincerely interested in them, I keep half of my emails for a rainy day that never comes. I try to be aware of this phenomenon for my readers. Nevertheless, Mark Twain’s words come back to me as a warning much too frequently: “I didn’t have time to write a … Read more
“Ahhh-choo” “God, Bless you.” “Thanks.” It’s a rare day you don’t hear this exchange. Whether triggered by allergies, a cold, common daily routine or wildfire smoke, we all sneeze. I undoubtedly think more about why I am sneezing as opposed to how. We can live perfectly-fine, thank you, without being able to answer certain questions. … Read more
I suspect I wasn’t alone during August as I grew weary of hearing about the “Great American Solar Eclipse.” You couldn’t escape it. Ten months before it was barely a blip on my solar radar, until my brother-in-law explained the historic significance of the unusual occurrence. Being alerted early, I actually found lodging not too … Read more
I recall trips as a youngster to Mack Drugs, our local pharmacy in upstate New York. Preceding the trip, the doctor would tear off a hand-written prescription from his desk-top pad, place it in mom’s fingers and off we would march. With the little scribbled paper gingerly protected, we drove to the same pharmacy we … Read more
I recently found myself in the middle of a make-shift reunion with some of my husband’s friends. As they met in our home, I played the quintessential ‘fifth wheel.’ At the same time, I had been considering a blog-nod to several of the friendship acknowledgement days coming up. Organizations around the world celebrate the noble … Read more