My posts last October about the “haunting books” I had read are among some of my most viewed posts, so I have decided to review more haunting books this year. (See here for the last haunting book of 2012, a book similar to today’s choice.) My first haunting book for October […]
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The Good Big Sister: Family Myths From Generation to Generation
I’ve written before about family myths (see here and here). A recent family reunion brought more some of our myths to mind. Growing up, I was the Good Big Sister – at least that’s how my parents perceived me. My siblings probably always disagreed. I was the oldest child. One brother […]
Continue readingFamily Lore and Small Town Gossip on an Interfaith Marriage in 1898
I am the latest of a long line of Catholic women who married Protestant men. The stories of our weddings show how interfaith marriages have changed over time. This post is the story of the first such marriage of my ancestresses that I know about. In Sacramento, California, in 1898, […]
Continue readingWorking Through the Generations: Happy 80th Birthday to My Father
I’ve written before that I am a lot like my mother. But I developed my attitudes toward work by watching my father. My earliest memories of my father at work date back to when I was in pre-school. When he was in graduate school earning his Ph.D. in metallurgy, he […]
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Humor Amidst the Tears
I wrote on Monday about the tragedies of Alzheimer’s, which are real and heart-wrenching. But there are moments of humor as well. Two of our family’s amusing stories occurred in May 2010, not long after my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Several family members had gathered in New Orleans for […]
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One Family’s Journey into Alzheimer’s – Keeper, by Andrea Gillies
If you want to know what it’s like to live with someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, read Keeper: One House, Three Generations, and a Journey into Alzheimer’s, by Andrea Gillies. Gillies, a British author, and her family took her in-laws into their home when the older couple could no longer live […]
Continue readingMy Mother’s 80th Birthday: The Meaning of Decades and of Days
I have mentioned before that my mother has Alzheimer’s. The last few years have been hard on our family, as we have watched her abilities decline. We recently moved her into an assisted living facility. Today, March 4, 2013, is her 80th birthday. We celebrate the milestone, while we reflect […]
Continue readingIn Sickness and in Health
I had planned to write a family story for today’s post, but life has a way of changing one’s plans. My husband and I spent the last week nursing each other through gastroenteritis. Al came down with it first, and for two days I made him tea, toast, and chicken […]
Continue readingSuper-Jesus and the Season of Mystery
My family is an eclectic mix of Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, and skeptics. Most of the time we muddle along just fine, but on occasion things get a little jumbled. I wasn’t present when this incident occurred, so let’s just say it’s a mix of fact and fiction. Much like the […]
Continue reading‘Ode to Joy’ on Our Wedding Anniversary
I always assumed I would walk down the aisle at my wedding to the strains of the Bridal Chorus from Wagner’s opera “Lohingren” (also called the “Wedding March”). You know the one: “Here comes the bride, All dressed in white, . . . “ So imagine my surprise when I […]
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