After we extensively remodeled a house, we needed rain for our un-irrigated grass seed to sprout in the summer heat. The exterior door into the new mudroom was installed slightly below ground level. Every time we got a hard rain that summer, the mudroom flooded. And every time my husband and I would be in ...
“Let go! Let go!” Our twenty-something-aged friends yelled in unison from the swollen river’s bank, some reaching a panicked tone. The canoe my thrill-seeking young husband and I were floating in had taken a corner a little fast, and capsized. He immediately let go, went under, and then popped up on the far ...
Late last week I finally shopped for a Father’s Day card. As I was checking out what was left on the racks, a woman about my mother’s age came up behind me. The lady reached for a card, frowned, and put back card after card. I assumed she couldn’t find the sentiment she was ...
“You’ll never survive without bug spray. They have giant mosquitoes,” my sister advised, tossing me a can of insect repellant. The summer following third grade, I reluctantly packed my small mod-flowered suitcase to join my older siblings for a week at the fabled site, Camp Wentz. I had seen a few grainy black and ...
My oldest child was enamored with her dad from the very beginning. They had a relationship I wasn’t sure I’d ever permeate. Everyone knew about their special bond. When she was just learning to talk and interact, our friend had a game he played with her. Designed to challenge that relationship. He would ask ...
(This is the second part of a piece that originally appeared on kindredmom.com.) Part I can be found here. ************ After a week of what I thought was the flu, I finally made an appointment with my general practitioner. I will never forget my doctor’s words as he prepared to read the ...
This week I am preparing for a speaking event and next week I will be at the Cleveland Clinic for a heart check. So I am taking this opportunity to post a piece that was selected and originally appeared on the Kindred Mom website a few weeks ago. It tells the story of ...
Tomorrow is May 1: May Day, my sister’s birthday, my youngest daughter’s birthday. May also brings the National Day of Prayer and, outside of the last day of school, the best occasion: Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day always brings a flood of memories to us empty-nesting moms. We can still remember every detail of each ...
I fumbled for my bag and squeezed toward the doors, then exited the stuffed bus. The T, Boston’s public transit system, was overwhelmed this day. Too many of us clueless, anxious visitors trying to navigate a tricky system of lines and stops. But my husband left the Airbnb six hours earlier, so I was going ...
I am head over heels for my husband. He has been my rock and my partner and I am grateful every day that we chose each other all those years ago. When we married, that decision was a tipping point in my life. It set events into motion that have made my days on ...
