Family and Friends

The Abandoned Table: Changing Places after a Death in the Family

On April 14, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 12 Comments

We ate dinner at the antique oak table. Vic’s stepfather had given it to us when we bought our home in 1972. We each had our place—me closest to the kitchen, David to my left, Anthony across the table, and my

Learning to Forgive

On March 31, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 32 Comments

Where is my Victor?” my mother-in-law asks. “He died, Virginia,” I tell her quietly. Her face scrunches into a grimace. She throws her head back to the right as if to shake something off. An insect? A

Please Leave Love Notes When You Die

On March 17, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 32 Comments

A small group sat around a table in the Watkins Glen Public Library. They’d come to hear me read from Leaning into Love. I told stories and read for forty minutes and then turned it over to anyone who

The Comfort of Small Things

On March 3, 2015 / Family and Friends, Nature / 22 Comments

When life is unsure and frightening, I look for the comfort of small things. ~ Chickadees and juncos throw back their heads to praise the dawn. They announce the joy of morning light and bring me hope

An Unexpected Gift

On February 24, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 23 Comments

He was lucky to get a teaching job when few were available in 1973. I was lucky to have his financial and emotional support. We were both lucky because we were in love. I was also pissed

When Dreams Tell Our Future

On February 17, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 29 Comments

“I had a dream last night,” my husband said in a thin raspy voice. “Really?” I said. Although he’d experienced a lifetime of vibrant dreams, he’d had few during recent months fueled by prednisone, codeine, and Ambien. “Yeah. I dreamed

My Grandma’s Juicy Secret

On January 20, 2015 / Family and Friends / 24 Comments

After Mom entered an Alzheimer’s residence in 1995, I received two cardboard boxes of mementos. Her husband had found the musty crushed cartons in the basement when cleaning out Mom’s possessions. Since Mom no longer recognized what she

Long Distance Love

On December 9, 2014 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 21 Comments

“Why?” I moaned. “You’ve been gone over a month. The kids and I miss you. I’m lonely.” “E, I’m sorry,” Vic said from somewhere in Israel where he was doing research. “I’ll only be away a few days

A Painting, a Pyramid, and my Longing

On October 28, 2014 / Creativity, Family and Friends, My Land and Home / 23 Comments

“I brought you a gift,” my daughter-in-law Liz said the day after the launch party for Leaning into Love. She seemed unusually shy. “Really, Liz? Another gift? You gave me the gift of driving from North Carolina to

A Book Launch, an Engagement, and a Pyramid

On October 7, 2014 / Creativity, Family and Friends, My Land and Home / 24 Comments

My family enjoys extravaganzas. It was my husband Vic’s style. If you can’t celebrate in a big way, why bother? I remember my surprise birthday party staged by Vic in 1968. Friends walked down the hill toward our Cayuga