It’s a strange dilemma. Porto, Portugal is beyond beautiful, a dream trip my husband Randy and I always wanted to take. The streets are ancient, winding, and medieval. The people are warm and smiling. The food consists of creamy cheeses, salty Serrano ham, fresh-caught seafood, and fruity port wine. The scenery is lush and green. […]
It seemed like the perfect place for Mom and me to spend two nights in historic Salem, Massachusetts—a large yellow colonial house built in 1834, graceful and majestic. We had booked into the town’s inn, but there was an overflow, so we ended up staying in one of their annexes, this yellow house a few […]
It’s a neighborhood skirmish unlike any I’ve seen, so steeped in tension and anger, the rest of us are reeling. Randy and I have tried to broker peace several times, only to have it break down. If we don’t intervene soon, I’m scared things could get ugly. Yes, a family of goldfinches has moved […]
My son Patrick and his band mates toured the Midwest recently. I followed their progress on Facebook as they drove from Connecticut to Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. In the photos, they’re young, beautiful, and smiling. I cheer along and always click the “heart button” underneath. Patrick’s doing what he loves. So why can’t […]
Oh my God, I thought, waking an hour later than usual. Where’s Rocky? He always roused me at the crack of dawn with his loud “Meoooowwww!” I recently wrote a post about this 16-year-old deaf, geriatric cat. And the looming, sad morning he might not come into our room and start my day. Was […]
God bless my husband, Randy. He’s doing something soon he really doesn’t want to do. If left to his own devices, he’d be relaxing in front of the television or playing a gig. But instead, he’s escorting me to a city he hasn’t been for several decades to see someone give a talk he might […]
I had an epiphany last weekend. I toasted my nephew Sean on his graduation from Fairfield University and realized something — I graduated from the same school exactly 40 years ago! I couldn’t help wonder, if I could go back in time, what would I tell that excited, yet nervous young woman about the decades […]
As a young mom, I assumed everyone was kidding when they said, “Wait till your kids get older. It only gets harder.” I panicked. How much harder can this be? With round-the-clock feedings, diaper changing, and unending “togetherness,” this job was relentless. But as I came to find, they were right. Some of the […]
Let’s face it — we only get so many summers in our lifetime. And the older I get, the more precious they become. I see the days from May to September like beautiful beads on a necklace, each to be cherished. There’s nothing worse than getting to Labor Day, with a bunch of “should haves.” […]
