Changing It Up

November 4th, 2013
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It is never too late to make changes in your life.
You can be 22, 42, 62 or even 92 and suddenly decide it’s time for a change.  But you have to want it.  You can’t do it just because others want you to.  You need to make changes and take care of yourself for yourself.
I was thinking about this because a wonderful friend of mine was discharged from the hospital this past Saturday after having her gall bladder removed on Friday.  It all happened very quickly and it was scary for a short time because we weren’t sure … Read More

Talking on All Souls Day

November 2nd, 2013
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Just because someone isn’t with you doesn’t mean you can’t talk to them…….right? People have imaginary conversations all the time.  In the shower.  While shaving or putting on your make-up.  In the kitchen.  Taking a walk.  Jogging. It’s not weird.  At least, I don’t think it’s weird.  I think of it as collecting or organizing your thoughts to make sure you explain yourself exactly the way you want.  Or sometimes it’s venting your emotions to the only person who might really get what you’re feeling. So what if the person is no longer here on Earth? It doesn’t matter to… Read More

Taxi Dad

November 1st, 2013
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Today’s post is a shout out to all of the men out there who have lost their wives or partners and are working hard to juggle the never ending responsibilities of working a paying job while raising their precious children. I think that women in this situation tend to receive more attention than men due to the sheer numbers of women who find themselves widowed with young children.  But men are also out there too doing their part and running around — as all parents do — trying to keep all the plates in the air. I was reminded of… Read More

Compassionate Action

October 30th, 2013
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Courtesy of Dave Allen Photography Thought For The Day “Tuning in to the needs and feelings of another person is a prerequisite to empathy which in turn can lead to understanding, concern and, if the circumstances are right, compassionate action,” according to Daniel Goleman, an author, psychologist and science journalist. I read this quote recently in a story about empathy in The New York Times and it caught my attention. Compassionate action. It reminds me of the Jesuit concept of social justice, which is acting on something you may see or feel that is happening to another person and then… Read More

Can You Hear Me Now?

October 29th, 2013
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It’s one thing to forget to turn your cell phone off and then have it ring while you are in church, in a job interview, at a funeral or in a theater, but it takes some major manipulation of a person’s ego to actually answer it while they are in those places. Right? Someone I didn’t know sat next to me during a play and her cell phone started ringing.  I immediately looked at her and she started searching her purse to find the phone.  I assumed that once she found it, she would just turn it off.  Wrong!! She… Read More

A Healing Patch of Green In Richmond

October 28th, 2013
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I took a road trip to Richmond, Virginia this past Saturday to visit my son and his girlfriend and we spent part of the day leisurely strolling the grounds of a breathtaking place called Maymont. I knew nothing about Maymont but was happy to go along and discover more about this estate and 100 acre park given to the city of Richmond in 1925 by James Henry and Sallie May Dooley.  As we walked through the nature center and then went out its back doors, rolling hills of green and rows of small rose bushes and manicured gardens greeted us. … Read More

The Pink Month

October 25th, 2013
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When I see pink products for sale during the month of October, I wonder how much of the money really goes to researching a cure for breast cancer.  Probably not very much. I know I’m not alone in this thought because I’ve heard and read similar comments from others discussing the reason why these products are being sold.  Buy them because you like them or need them.  But I think most people now see those oh so pretty pink-ribboned products as a merchandising trick better left alone. If anything good has come out of the marketing of these pink products,… Read More

Nighty Night?

October 24th, 2013
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The change in seasons has been taking me for a bit of a roller coaster ride lately and I am ready to get off. I can’t quite put my finger on what is bringing about all of these conflicting feelings but I am determined not to let them get the best of me.  Some of it, I think, has to do with the sun beginning to set earlier now but I think the other factors may be a prolonged lack of sleep and a lot of family stuff rolling around in my brain.  I know I am tired and I… Read More

Strangers Become Friends

October 23rd, 2013
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When walking down the street, with a destination in mind, lost in my thoughts about work or something happening in my personal life, I admit that I am not always aware of the people around me. I know that physically there are groups of people or singular people walking towards or past me, but the details of what they are wearing or what they look like are an instantaneous blur. It’s not because I am walking and texting.  If I hear the ping of a text received on my phone and I need to answer it, I move out of… Read More