I don’t have any particular desire to see the Ghostbusters movie which just opened, but the trailers and reviews that I’ve been seeing bring back memories of the first Ghostbusters movie, released in 1984. My husband and I did see that movie. We’ve always liked movies—our first date was to […]
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A Story I Couldn’t Tell Before: It’s Okay to Stop
The last time I saw my mother was in mid-June 2014—just over two years ago. That was the trip during which she spit out the Communion host, which I then had difficulty disposing of. This week-long visit gave me my last memories of my mother before she died. Mother had […]
Continue readingA Story I Couldn’t Tell Before: The Time Dad Cussed At Me
I only remember my father swearing at me once. I heard him curse in general on occasion—a “hell” or a “damn” when he pounded a finger while hammering or the like. And he’d call politicians “damn idiots” sometimes. But he didn’t even say these things often in my presence when […]
Continue readingLoneliness and Pampering at Summer Camp
I wrote last summer about my son’s first overnight camp experience, at the YMCA’s Camp Wood in Kansas. He loved it and wanted to go again. His little sister was eager to go to camp as well. My husband and I had been less impressed with Camp Wood than our […]
Continue readingPool Days . . . Guilt-Free
My in-laws put a swimming pool in their back yard the summer after my first child was born. I’m not a good swimmer, but I love hanging out by pools, at least until my fair skin starts to burn. It was wonderful to have a place to go to relax […]
Continue readingOn Cats and Cat Pillows
On a chair in my guest room sit two handmade pillows with cats on them. Although I have owned dogs most of my married life, I really consider myself a cat person. But my husband is not. He wants dogs, only dogs. I embroidered one of the pillows when I […]
Continue readingAnne Morrow Lindbergh and My Middlebury College Graduation: Finding Inspiration Forty Years Later
It’s been forty years since I graduated from Middlebury College. Just about forty years to the day—I think the ceremony was on or about June 1, 1976. I am missing my fortieth reunion this coming weekend. In fact, I have yet to attend any of my Middlebury class reunions. I’ve […]
Continue readingSirius Driving
After my father died, I purchased one of his cars. It was a 2012 Mazda 5—nothing fancy, but I had a 2009 Mazda 5, which I liked. When I was out in Washington State to manage my parents’ estates, I drove my dad’s Mazda 5 between his house on the […]
Continue readingFirst Signs of My Mother’s Dementia
I think about my mother’s early signs of dementia a lot in May, because I first wondered whether she was getting Alzheimer’s in May 2007. It was the weekend that my daughter graduated from Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. My parents had joined my husband, my two children, and me […]
Continue readingNo More Libby Jacksons
My kids and their cousins often visited their mutual grandparents (my in-laws) when they were children. When it was time to leave, my father-in-law would call them aside and hand them each a $20 bill. I told my children not to expect Grandpa’s generosity and to thank him when it […]
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