Today, as often happens, a piece I needed to read popped up on my screen. Anne Lamott's "12 Truths I Learned from Life and Writing" came across at just the right moment. I'll be honest, tears have been flowing pretty freely lately, a combination of holidays and just life in general. That and my middle-age… Continue reading TRUTH

The Masai greet one another with, "How are the children?". Regardless of what culture you are a part of, the health and wellness of the children are reflections of the health and wellness of society. Years ago, a co-worker told me that you are never happier than your least happy child. We reflect them. And… Continue reading How are the children?

To call my Dad the Gift Giver might be a bit of an overstatement. Gift giving would have been pretty close to the bottom of his list of talents when we were kids, even below housekeeper and chef. But the gifts he did give were memorable. Years ago, riding in the car with my Charlie,… Continue reading The Gift Giver

Hiking in Gambrill Park yesterday, I happened across a tree, split into two just feet from where the common trunk was rooted in the earth. The tree wasn’t really exceptional in any way, except that it brought me immediately back to my childhood and our backyard on Red Coat Lane. A wonderland of rocks, roots,… Continue reading The Tree

35 years ago, my mother died during that magical period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the worst and possibly one of the more common times to die. People try to hold on for special occasions - birthdays, holidays, anniversaries - only to lose their battles in the middle of the fights towards the inevitable. That year,… Continue reading The Christmas Sweater