Strength Through Sharing

February 10th, 2014
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Sharing my stories, and those of others, can entertain, offer strength and inspiration and sometimes minimize the isolation that is felt in relationships or personal crisis.  I share to bond, to reach out, to reveal that I am vulnerable just like you.
No one knows when someone else’s story will unexpectedly touch a life and help another person gain a new perspective on grief, a subject people they know about but in fact they don’t.  Someone else’s words can bring new understanding to the issues of life and death,  of physical and emotional survival and help you see things differently.… Read More

It’s A Wonderful Life

December 23rd, 2013
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This time of year I am always on the lookout for when “It’s Wonderful Life,” is airing on television. I could buy the DVD of this holiday classic but that would take the spontaneity out of it for me.  I like the surprise of turning on the television and finding it already on, or in the case of this past Friday evening, I caught it right at the very beginning. I know that it’s not a diverse film, I know that many things that happen in this film are dated and wouldn’t be said or wouldn’t happen today but 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

Kindness In a Me, Me, Me Culture

October 21st, 2013
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No matter what our age or place in life, we always remember the people who are kind. For instance, during the homily of a friend’s funeral, I found myself sitting by myself because I had a arrived a little late and my friends were in another part of the church.  As I listened to the beautiful words of the priest’s eulogy, I put my head down as tears began to roll down my face.  I will never forget the simple gesture of the woman sitting next to me who gently put her hand on top of mine for a few… Read More

Newtown On Labor Day

September 2nd, 2013
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Today is Labor Day and I have the day off from work.  YEAH!!! I hope you do too! Maybe you are planning to go to a friend’s house for a special holiday meal or you are going to cook for your family.  Or maybe you’re just hangin’ at your own house catching up on personal projects.  Or maybe you’re going to go to an afternoon picnic or watch a community parade. In Newtown, Connecticut today, there will be a parade.  A parade of love and community and healing. It will be same parade that thousands of residents have watched and… Read More

Sonia Sotomayor

July 25th, 2013
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I am a big believer in the idea that when someone offers you a helping hand that you should turn around and offer your hand to help someone else. It’s the right thing to do and haven’t you also found that you always get more out of life when you become actively involved and emotionally invest in it?  I know I do! I’m guessing that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor practices this same philosophy because she recently went back to her childhood roots in the Bronx, NY and spent the day with young children from the Dream Big program… Read More

A Merry Christmas Message

December 25th, 2012
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Merry Christmas Dear Readers, May you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas! The holiday season may remind you of a special person who is no longer with you, just as I am reminded of my husband who died nine years ago.  Our lives have been forever changed and so have we. But there is always hope for a renewed future; a future that we can purposely rebuild so that we may move forward.  You are not alone. We bring our loved ones with us as we slowly figure out our new lives and as we do, we… Read More

Newtown, Connecticut

December 15th, 2012
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Murdering a child is an unspeakable act. Yesterday’s horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT., which involved the shooting of 27 people, including 20 young children, leaves us asking questions about our culture and praying for the parents and the community at large. As a parent myself, I try to place myself in their situation, but I cannot begin to fathom the depth of pain and shock those parents are experiencing.  My heart goes out them and I wish we could take it all away. We must talk openly about this incident, as hard as it is,… Read More

Being All In

December 12th, 2012
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This holiday season, I am appreciating the endless decorations of bows, bells and evergreens, listening to the traditional Christmas music that seems to be playing everywhere and trying to find wonderful presents for those that I love. I’ve been to a few Christmas parties and also donated to schools and other groups who are dependent upon help from others so that they may continue their community work that is so crucial to helping men, women and children who are homeless and without a place to go for regular shelter and meals. I am trying to give of myself and think… Read More