It is a bit after 7:00 pm on a Sunday night.  It is raining.  It is dark.  It is cold. My day began 12 hours ago when Barry texted me that there was a great probability that he would be discharged from the hospital today.  I got to the hospital at 8:00 am… thinking that he’d be sitting on the [...]

Speaking of my Mom, she isn’t doing all that well.  Her headache turned into what I think is bronchitis… we will know tomorrow when we see our family physician. My Mom is a very, very independent person, and she is notoriously reluctant to ask for help.  I know how difficult it is for her, but how wonderfully appreciative she is, [...]

Yesterday was Jane’s birthday. Jane isn’t one to ask for things, even wish-list sorts of things for birthdays and Christmas, so I was pleasantly surprised when she told me last week that she really, really needs a vacuum cleaner for her NYC apartment… something small and light and easy to store for a, well, small studio apartment. Ah, a light [...]

29 years ago this morning, at 10:07 am, our little baby girl, Jane Hillary… who would forever be “our baby,” came into our world. Every moment since has been filled with laughter, delight, loveliness and LOVE! Back in “those day” it wasn’t common to learn the gender of your baby before the actual moment, so I very clearly remember the [...]

I took my mom out to lunch today. We went to one of her favorite lunch places… Panera. Just the two of us. We sat at a nice cozy table for 2 and talked and talked as we ate our identical Asian Chicken Salads, both with multi-grain bread and dressing on the side. And water… tap. It is a warm, [...]

After reading Audrey’s blog today, F.S.P. Parties, I’ve decided to come clean.  To my husband, that is.  After all, it’s been years… and I never did really tell him how much it cost! OK.  It’s about the prom dresses.  And the formal dresses.  You know, the ones that your daughters simply must have.  Honey, I spent way more money on [...]

A perfect evening… Walking with Jane and her two beautiful dogs through my little New England town, nodding to passersby as they dash into shops open late for the holiday season and waving to friends through restaurant and cafe windows… then turning the corner onto my street to be greeted by my home. Home, with its twinkling lights that melt [...]

I raised 4 children. I am enjoying my 9 grandchildren more than I can even express in words. I helped care for my vivacious mother-in-law as her health rapidly declined this summer. I was with her when she passed away. I am the primary caretaker of my own Mom. My Mom. A beautiful woman who discovered exercise decades ago… before [...]

My mother’s post, “What’s missing?” left me in tears. Bittersweet tears. Tears of happiness that my mother got to experience for 22 years the love of her father… tears of sadness that my mother has not been able to share the last 33 years with her father, here on earth. As I read her post, I was left thinking… What [...]

Listening to a talk radio show on my way home from a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, a very interesting question was posed to the audience.  Lots of people were calling in with their answers.  In light of the state of the economy, many responses focused on disposable income, canceled vacations, even employment.  But what immediately came to my mind was [...]