Health

A Survival Guide for Life After Loss: Body

On January 28, 2014 / Bereavement and End of Life, Health / 24 Comments

This is the first of three Survival Guides: Body, Soul, and Spirit During my husband’s illness and after his death, grief exhausted me. Who cared about staying healthy? Some part of me did, but it was hard

My Wedding Ring, My Lucky Charm

On April 2, 2013 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends, Health / 28 Comments

I took my wedding ring off on the first anniversary of my husband Vic’s death. The next morning, I put it back on. Vic dead. Me alive. Definitely still married. I removed the ring a few months

Vegetarian Minestrone: Self-Care for Body and Soul

On March 5, 2013 / Bereavement and End of Life, Health / 8 Comments

I took excellent care of my husband Vic when he was ill, but I sometimes falter at self-care now that I’m on my own. I felt dizzy and tired this week after driving too many hours, drinking

Whispers and Roars: Surviving the Turmoil of Tinnitus

On December 4, 2012 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends, Health / 18 Comments

By late October, words were whispers, mumblings in the dark, puzzles to be solved. I tiptoed between them, guessing at consonants, clinging to vowels like life preservers. Weeks earlier, my hearing loss was manageable with a small

Hearing with Heart: Grieving for Lost Sound

On October 16, 2012 / Bereavement and End of Life, Health / 10 Comments

Her brows scrunched together and her hand covered her mouth to hide her feelings. Her eyes said she was saying something important, but I wasn’t wearing my hearing aids and heard nothing. Not a sound. Blank space.

Better Than Your Grandma’s Marinara

On September 11, 2012 / Family and Friends, Health / 11 Comments

When my husband Vic and I got serious about healthy eating in 1967, his mom Virginia gave me a copy of Let’s Cook It Right by Adele Davis. Vic was not thrilled with bran molasses cookies and

Creating Community with Pie: Inspired by “Making Piece” by Beth Howard

On August 21, 2012 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends, Health / 10 Comments

Pie is community glue, its very own language of love. “That blueberry looks just like the pie my grandma baked,” one grizzly old guy tells me at the Hector Fireman’s Fair. I grin and laugh and ask

Angry Faces, Churning Water: Fracking Industry Threatens Seneca Lake

On August 14, 2012 / Health, My Land and Home, Nature, Political Action / 12 Comments

In July 2012, Tony Ingraham of Walk in the Park made my blog “Angry Faces, Placid Water: Fracking, LPG Gas Storage and Seneca Lake” into this video. Inergy, a Kansas City based company, was working on their

The Crone of Cayuga Lake: Continuing Bonds with a Wild Teacher

On June 26, 2012 / Family and Friends, Health, My Land and Home, Nature / 6 Comments

In September 1968, Vic and I rented a barely winterized cottage on Cayuga Lake. The next spring, we splurged on a canoe. As we explored the lake, Vic paddled and steered from the stern, while I practiced

Speeding to Strong Cancer Center

On June 12, 2012 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends, Health / 10 Comments

In 2007, a month after Vic’s stem cell transplant, he drives our Subaru west on the New York State Thruway. I’m in the passenger seat, watching his jaw muscle pop. “Let’s make a list,” I suggest. “I