This past weekend, Steve and I and his brother and my sister-in-law paid a visit to Steve's parents at Brightview, in the memory care unit where they live. We always know the visits will be eventful, made so usually by the one resident who doesn't actually need memory care, my father-in-law Tom Wiley. He has… Continue reading The Compliment

I write about siblings quite a bit, those people who see us through the unique and distorted lens of time, through jealousy, growth, undiluted love, resentment, shame, and blind acceptance. My siblings are the closest I have to a mirror of my soul. My brother Marc had an enormous impact on most every aspect of… Continue reading My life was shaped and altered by a boy my own son’s age

The loss. Your loss. Our loss. My loss. Your pain scares me. It rattles my speech, takes shots at my composure, and turns me into a cold stranger. Your pain, a pain that I cannot fathom, cannot usurp, cannot wear, becomes a wall between us.  Fear keeps me away. Fear makes me avert my focus.… Continue reading Loss and fear and pain and friendship

Last week, I started a new job after searching and interviewing for many months, for many positions and across a number of different fields. As sometimes happens, life was on my side, and I landed up in a job that not only uses some of my more marketable skills, but it also crosses paths with… Continue reading Old people know how to do stuff.

My life is not easy. It never has been. I’ve always had challenges, reasons to whine, to complain. I’ve always yearned for the greener pastures over the fence. I’m human. My problems. Your problems. We all have them. And at one time or another, we are, each of us, overwhelmed by them. But then, look… Continue reading An unfiltered glimpse