My Best Therapy

I walked along the beach from my daughters place to the enramada. ****** After five months of needing care, I wanted to take my annual sojourn to Mexico and regain some independence. After a stroke it is easy to feel as if you will be dependent forever. And it’s easy to be lazy. When everyone […]

International Travel – post stroke

My trip to Mexico was a wonderful dream. It is an annual trip and I began planning for it three weeks after my stroke. My ticket had been bought earlier and I was determined to visit my “familia” in Mexico and be near the seashore for the month of January. My daughters were committed to […]

Christmas Changes

Christmas changes every year. Some are barely recognizable as Christmas past. Somewhere along the way we became more interested in giving than getting. We are more captivated by the needs of strangers and less interested what our children and grandchildren might want – they don’t really need anything. And through the stories that filter back […]

Thanksgiving

“Why you be so pi’iful” Gracie, 4 years old As I was working my way through dressing this morning, I was worrying about Facetime. I know I will see all of my family today via electronics. Am I presentable? Suddenly, I found myself crying. I don’t want my grandchildren to think I’m pitiful. In the […]

Pema, mi Maestra

“In the morning when you wake up, you reflect on the day ahead and aspire to use it to keep a wide open heart and mind. At the end of the day, before you go to sleep, you think over what you have done. If you fulfill your aspiration, even once, rejoice in that. If […]

My Bubble Life

On August 2 the temperature in Medford was 109. My husband and older daughter and I escaped the heat to enjoy a friends’ beach house a few hours from home. it was paradise – walking he beach in the ocean breeze, drinking fruity cocktails on the deck while watching the sun set the ocean, sleeping […]

4th of July

I woke up feeling a little gritchy* about this holiday. Maybe I can’t put it into words, but for me it seems to be another celebration that is best just thought of as a day to get together and maybe watch a fireworks display. It’s difficult to really remember what I believed about Independence Day […]

Life’s Commencement

With or without pomp and circumstance I have been a part commencements for over 50 years.  Memories of my older sister in her cap and gown are fresh in my mind.  The years of black-and-white photography forever captured her in the somber colors of yesteryear.  There were no school colors for robes in those times.   […]

To Infinity and Beyond…

My son and I were discussing education a few months ago. High school graduations, who was applying where, and whether they had been accepted provided ready conversation as many of our young waited for responses to college applications. Our conversation eventually got around to my short-lived formal education. I don’t remember what the speaker said […]

All-Over-The-Earth Day

Worth reprinting each year! I remember the first Earth Day. For me, beginning to think about our planet as a personal responsibility grew from my observance of that day. It has been a slow awakening. Through the years I learned more. And when we know better, we do better. Yet, I know that I can […]