Posts Tagged: coping

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

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

A Neighborly Comfort Zone

August 13th, 2014
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I am blessed with great neighbors.  We wave and chat when we see each other, we bring our newspapers in for each other when we know someone is away and we all get along in, well, I must say, a neighborly way.  We don’t really socialize with each other that much but we are aware of how most of us are doing and the general goings on in our busy lives. An older couple who lives nearby has a great porch that has a beautiful navy blue and white striped awning and we all hang out there from time to… Read More

We Are Love

August 11th, 2014
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Wow!! My weekend certainly went by like a flash!  I visited my parents, worked around the house, talked to a very sick friend in the hospital and got a lot accomplished.  I hope your weekend was everything you planned it to be!! Starting the new work week with good thoughts is important to me because I try to set a tone within myself and stick to it as much as I can.  I am reminded today of a particularly beautiful excerpt from Marianne Williams book, “A Return To Love:” “Just as a sunbeam can’t separate itself from the sun, and… Read More

Can Adversity Be Useful?

August 8th, 2014
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When my world becomes full of too many problems, I look to others for their unique advice, inspiration and strength.  I find socializing is a good positive answer to lifting a bad mood. Having coffee and a long conversation with a friend can help me sometimes see that there is a way out of my stress; that things may feel overwhelming right now but it’s not a permanent situation.  Something better might be right around the corner and I just need to hang in there and ride this bad time out. Besides hanging out with family and friends, I also… Read More