“Mary, Mary, Wake up, it’s Christmas!” I remember my eyes popping open and excitedly saying those words to my sleeping sister on Christmas morning of 1961, the best Christmas of my young life. Out in the living room sat wrapped packages and two large cardboard boxes that must have been too big to wrap…one was for me, one for my sister. Inside each box was a walking doll,…
If you’ve ever had a friend you truly loved, who made you laugh until your face hurt, then lost her to demon cancer, you know you can’t let her life go without a last, well deserved, round of applause. I was lucky enough to meet Janet Reilly because our kids attended the same elementary school. I used to think I was funny, until I met Janet. She could…
I am not a dog person. I like dogs, but am not one of those people who’ll risk her life stopping in traffic to save a dog I don’t know. My friend, Carolyn will do that. God bless her, I admire her bravery, but that’s just not me. That’s why it took me a few margaritas to start on the long road toward loving a dog, I never…
We’ve all heard the saying, “Dance like no one is watching.” But I loved coming across this fuzzy photo of my mom doing her trademark Charleston step and seeing her in action. Mom was born in 1913, so coming of age in the Roaring Twenties, she must have loved a dance that had people flapping their arms, kicking up their heels and giving up stuffy, suffocating etiquette. My…
The first day the sore throat was suspicious, and since my co-worker had texted positive, I had my concerns. In spite of them, I took a long walk in the sunshine, met Carolyn for breakfast with the warning that I could have Covid, then went home and took care of laundry. The second day, was decidedly less fun, with chills, nausea, vomiting and the realization that this was…
I love a big city. You can’t beat having restaurants featuring every cuisine imaginable just minutes away, or concerts and plays every week. But in the past year I’ve also learned to savor the sweet, slow pace of Harmony, PA with a population of 1,104. Tonight I was out for my evening walk and ran into a police officer on my path in the woods. He was closing…
When things get bad, I turn to baking therapy. …
I try to be patient with him, doing my best not to drag him down the street when his little legs have trouble carrying him. I'm hoping Karma will come back to me when I'm so old I have to be dragged down the street. …
A gorgeous Easter should be mandatory as a reward for all the ugly days we've had to endure! …
Just when you think you’ll be content to sleep forever because the gray never ends, buds pop out on trees and daffodils sprout, shaking you out of your winter coma. In this netherworld between freezing and basking in the warm glow of the sun lives March. Although I’ll miss the bear-like cave I’ve created with blankets on my bed, I’ve loved feeling the sun on my face. I…