Mom used to tell me and my siblings  that the reward for doing good deeds would be "stars in our crowns" when we got to heaven.  Let me tell you about some people I know who are collecting a lot of stars in their crowns. 

Volunteer drivers have given elders… Read full post »

My first Christmas memory is:  Mom or dad taking us kids (four or five of us at the time) on a drive to look at Christmas lights, while the other parent stayed home to "do the supper dishes" and when we got home, Santa had come to our house! 

I… Read full post »

I grew up with traditional Thanksgivings (turkey, lots of family) and have been a guest or hosted a couple as a grownup, but the Thanksgivings that stand out in my memory are the not-so-traditional ones. 

When I was 23 I opted to visit  friends rather than go home for my… Read full post »

My favorite word:   hope

Least favorite word:   despair

Turn-ons:  humor, word play, a twinkle in the eyes, confidence, kindness, creativity, looking good in blue jeans

Turn-offs: lack of grooming/hygiene, arrogance, stridency, materialism

Sounds and noises I love… Read full post »

Finally you  loosened up and you're  mostly enjoying  your senior year.   Maybe a little too much -- after having no detentions for three and a half years, you'll get twelve during your last semester.  When you cut class with Eileen on a spring afternoon?  Check to… Read full post »

"We build a circle of care around the diverse elders of the East Side, keeping them safe and healthy in their homes."

This is the mission statement  of the non-profit where I am the director.  Don't be impressed by the title -- I direct myself and one other paid… Read full post »

The expectation of having a date and someone to smooch at midnight puts New Year's Eve right up there with Valentine's Day as a day of dread for some of my single friends.  But I look forward to this day every year,  ever since my neighborhood friends came up with our… Read full post »

My kids and I are going to my hometown in Nebraska for Thanksgiving.  It's about an eight hour drive, which means a weekend isn't enough time to drop in, so in recent years I've only been back once or twice a year.   Since my girls are 24 and 20 and busy… Read full post »

This Halloween I've decided that my ex-husband should be a zombie. I'm not an authority on zombies, but I've heard that they're single-minded and  impossible to reason with and hard to get rid of, and so is he. I can't make him disappear or be reasonable  and we've been officially divorced… Read full post »

In five hours I'm supposed to be at my friend Carla's  house for Food Club, and I'm  expected to  have in hand something I've made to share with Carla,  Eileen and Kayla, who will also be bringing food they've made to share with  the rest of us.  We arrive with our … Read full post »

While we were growing up Mom used  certain proverbs in an attempt to guide and advise my sisters and me.  Some were repeated often, apparently so they would become ingrained in our psyches.  "Why buy the cow if the milk is free?" was one of her favorites, borrowed, I think, from… Read full post »

Who are these people and how what color is the ozone in their world?  

I realize that I don't often  rub elbows with with people like those who are packing the Town Hall forums and accusing legislators  home for the summer recess of being Communists, Nazis, or just… Read full post »