My amaryllis bulb opened further last night. This is year two for that flower, I'll have you know. Ha! And Jack always said I bring plants home to die. Not this time! When I went to open the blinds just now, there it was - unfolded nearly as open as it is going to get and with an extra blossom I don't remember from last…
There's ice every where I look today, but it wasn't always that way. As a matter of fact, just yesterday I woke to palm trees and sunshine. For two weeks now, I've sought air conditioning and shorts while my neighbors back home bundled to the teeth and dug for hours in repeated deposits of deep, heavy snow. While I was floating with my niece in…
Well, as it has been said, all good things must come to an end. This afternoon I head to Philly after five days of being totally spoiled at my friend’s house here in Florida. Of course, I will be glad to get home – there’s no place like home — but I will miss the lavish hospitality. I have grown accustomed to the way the…
I never did drugs growing up, unless you count coffee, not that I do. But while I never did drugs, I have been hooked on something else as controlling, and it is this heady premise: I can do it myself. I know you are all shocked to hear I was ever like this, knowing what you presently know of me, but yes, I really was an…
I keep waiting for the Perfect Time, a time in which to write you thoughtfully, memorably, helpfully, with sufficient space carved out to refine, polish and edit, as my spelling and grammer grammar are meticulously checked. And in such waiting, all that happens is nothing. Once again, it's time to reject the Whole Lotta Nothing thinking in favor of a Little Bit of Something. Let me…
"Well, so how is your husband?" asked a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. Taken off-guard, I stammered, "He died. He's dead. He got very sick quite suddenly and he passed away. Eight months ago today." But as I've had time to rethink it, I want another chance to answer, this time more accurately. Jack didn't pass away. He didn't. The real answer is that he is very much alive and…
My five year old niece stared unhappily at the handwriting task her mom had just assigned."I don't know why, but this just makes me feel like crying!"I totally get that, my nice niece. For you, it is handwriting. For me, it is paperwork. What my friend calls Yucky Papers. Under the best of circumstances, the most I hope for is a temporary truce with Yucky Papers. But I'm finding…
As Neil Sedaka might have sung on a morning like this, "Waking up is so hard to do." It's one of those days when I open my eyes and feel like a Mack truck hit me, and then backed up to see what it hit. A morning when the coffee can't be brewed fast enough. A morning when what I would really like is for someone…
Well, tomorrow marks seven months, and I'm not sure what to say about that, except that it is what it is. Other people along the road are months and years ahead of me, but I can't think too much about that because I'm not there yet. I'm at six months, thirty days and about fifteen minutes. That's the nature of grieving, as far as I can…
My son and his lovely bride gave me a gift this Christmas that was both for me and because of Jack: a Garmin GPS! It was the best gift for a person like me, who cannot always find my way out of a paper bag. As a matter of fact, all my life I have had anxiety about getting lost. This was an anxiety Jack did not share. He never…