Yearly Archives:: 2014

A Change Is Gonna Come

September 8th, 2014
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I am happier when I have an idea of what my day is going to bring, but most of the time I really have no idea what the next 24 hours is going to be like.

I know the time of appointments, deadlines, and fun stuff, such as having lunch or dinner with friends or family, but otherwise my time is pretty much open for anything.  Excuse my French, but shit happens, as they say, and life can throw me and you a surprise curve ball without a heads up that it’s coming our way.  I don’t know why it … Read More

Someone by Alice McDermott

September 4th, 2014
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Someone  by Alice McDermott was given to me as a Christmas gift but I purposely set it aside because I knew that I wanted to savor every word of this novel.  I knew it was going to be special and I was right. I thoroughly enjoyed reading McDermott’s award-winning book, Charming Billy, and so I was familiar with McDermott’s incredible gift of creating characters that you feel you know, sentences that make you stop and go back and reread them several times and her mastery of quietly leading you into her magical stories. Someone is set in Brooklyn in the… Read More

6 Unbreakable Sibling Bonds

September 2nd, 2014
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Today is a post giving you a little slice of my family life.  A shout-out to my brothers and sisters if you will. I am the oldest of six children.  We are four girls and two boys and are incredibly close in age: there is only seven years between me and my youngest siblings who are twins. I have written a lot about the healing gift of friendship and the important role that my friends play in my life but I haven’t said much about the healing gift of my siblings mainly because I know they don’t want to read… Read More

Why Is Listening Powerful?

August 29th, 2014
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Texting is fun, emailing is great but I find the best skill I can practice is one that is not electronic: listening. Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing, according to Rachael Naomi Remen, a pioneer in the mind/body holistic health movement and author of Kitchen Table Wisdom.  Remen writes that it is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. Listening to another person is not just about hearing the words that someone… Read More

Friends Forever: Billy Crystal & Robin Williams

August 27th, 2014
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Comedian Billy Crystal’s tribute to Robin Williams during Monday night’s Emmy Awards was moving because it stripped away the glitter and glitz and glamour of Hollywood and spoke of something essential: the gift of friendship. Crystal talked about what a great friend Robin Williams was to him and to try and imagine the two of them just hanging out together as two down-to-earth dudes was special in itself.  We see comedians and actors performing together all the time and they look like they are enjoying each other but we really don’t know if it’s genuine.  It could be an act.  … Read More

Plenty of Positive

August 25th, 2014
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Lots of children and parents in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia are waking up earlier than usual this morning and wondering what happened to the easy breezy days of summer.  They are looking at the calendar and staring at today’s date and thinking, “How did this happen?  How could today be the first day of school?” A new school year is time to look forward with a sense of hope.  It’s a chance to do things a little different and a little better.  First days of anything offer the opportunity for a fresh start.  Of course, there may also be… Read More

Baking Zukey Bonanza Bread

August 22nd, 2014
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Many of our most powerful memories are tied to food. A spectacular cake served at one of our birthdays, a delicious meal eaten at a special restaurant, or a dish made by someone we love. One of my favorite summer memories is remembering the dinners I used to have at a beach restaurant that sadly doesn’t exist anymore.  It was a comfortable family restaurant with great food and friendly service and it was a relaxing place to go after a day spent on the beach.  Our son was about seven or eight years old when my late husband and I… Read More

True Blue Hope

August 20th, 2014
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Just a quiet thought today……. Much effort has gone into looking for life elsewhere in the solar system and beyond, always preceded by the question: “Where’s the water?” With water,  there could be life, no blue, no life.                                          ~     Sylvia Earle  … Read More

Prescription: Go To The Beach!

August 18th, 2014
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I have always believed that the natural elements of the beach can heal me and help to make me feel whole again. No matter what my age, from childhood to right this minute, the beach is always a comforting place for me to work through my troubles. I have spent countless hours wiggling my feet in the warm and comforting sand, listening to powerful and relaxing sound of the waves crashing on the shore and I always come away feeling renewed.  The beach, almost any beach, is my trusted “go-to” place, my happy place if you will, and the beach… Read More