Still Life With Bread Crumbs – Fiction

December 4th, 2016
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annas-book

I recently finished reading Anna Quindlen’s amazing book, Still Life With Bread Crumbs, and I can’t stop thinking about the unexpected plot that Quindlen beautifully develops and weaves into the touching story about an older woman, Rebecca Winter, who discovers through various hardships that it is never too late to change up your life when you feel it isn’t working.

Rebecca, like the rest of us, thinks she has an idea of where life is taking her but then life throws a number of unexpected changes her way and things don’t work out the way she thought it initially … Read More

Finding Your Community

September 23rd, 2016
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    You’re in the mood to go out.  Maybe go see a movie.  Maybe get a drink. But as a suddenly single, widowed or recently divorced person you might find that your usual go-to friends are busy and you aren’t enthusiastic about going out by yourself. It’s not that you can’t do it because you’ve done it before.  You’ve done it because you hate to think that you won’t do something just because you don’t have anyone to do it with. You went out by yourself to prove that you could and it was okay but not great.  It … Read More

Divorce v Death

April 16th, 2013
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I’m not sure why people compare getting divorced to losing a spouse. But they do. Hmmmmm.  One of these things is really not like the other. Yes, both situations are the end of something, but one is final and the other is not. Both situations are traumatic and force you to assess your life and eventually rebuild it in a new way. But the death of a loved one is final.  You will never see that person again. With divorce, you might feel like you never want to see that person again but they’re still alive. Lots of widows and… Read More

Working Through Emotional Pain

September 19th, 2012
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Sunrise off the coast of Ireland At one time, I thought that if you ignored something unpleasant it would go away or solve itself on it’s own. And sometimes that actually does happen: people move away, they change jobs or people decide to transfer their children to another school. But for the big emotional stuff — grieving, divorce, abuse, illness — I find you have to face it and slowly work through the painful issues to get to the other side of it and eventually heal your inner self.  I have found that if you ignore the emotional pain from… Read More

Why Did I Come Into This Room?

August 9th, 2012
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This morning I got in the car and put the key in the ignition when my mind started wandering back to the house, to the kitchen in particular, and I wondered, “Did I unplug the tea kettle?” It is embarrassing to admit but when I am leaving the house, there are many, many times when I cannot remember whether I turned something off.  I generally have a mental list of the same things that I need to do every day so why does this happen? I really try to prevent going through the house over and over to recheck myself,… Read More

Calgon, Take Me Away

April 5th, 2012
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The world around us can be dynamic and sometimes intense. If channeled in a positive direction, being around people who are intense and dynamic or situations that are dynamic and intense can be a good thing; even a great thing.  It can be the fuel that gets the creative juices started and sometimes can bring about breakthroughs or solutions in otherwise stuck situations. But if you are already feeling overloaded or overwhelmed by being the single parent (either widowed or divorced) who works full-time, takes care of the house, the children and the finances, then maybe for your own sake… Read More