The Great Possession Debate

October 4th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

Sometimes you find help in the most unpredictable places.

Yesterday morning I was reading a column in The Washington Post called Home Front and came across a question from a reader that I thought was timely, on point and more importantly, one that we all probably will have to face at some point or another in our lives.

The questioner wanted to know what to do with the possessions that once belonged to a loved one.  Specifically, the things that belonged to her father, who had recently died.  Inheriting a lifetime of someone else’s possessions can be overwhelming and increase … Read More

Pushing Those Emotional Buttons

September 30th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

I have three sisters and two brothers who are younger than me.  Yes, I am the oldest of six children and we are very close in age.  Growing up and living with such a cast of loved ones has made, and continues to make for many great stories and many great memories. I would say I talk to at least one of my sisters every day and sometimes I talk to all three of them during the coarse of one day.  That’s a lot of yakking, right?  Not really because we also email and text each other. In our own… Read More

Amazing You!

September 26th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

A significant and ongoing part of the grieving process is learning what to do with the confusing feelings you experience. What am I supposed to do with the sad, angry, and surreal emotions I have inside me about the person who used to be in my life?  That person who was here yesterday, but is not here today, and won’t ever be here for a lot more todays in the future.  How can I turn those sad, angry, surreal feelings into constructive feelings so that I can make a future for myself? Acceptance of my new life and my new… Read More

Time Stands Still on Sept. 11

September 11th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

Time will stand still for me this morning around 8:45 a.m. when the clock will remind me that twelve years ago today, the first plane, a hijacked American Airlines jet flying out of Boston, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, setting into motion national events and policies that permanently changed the way we as a nation live. All I need to do is look at a picture of the Twin Towers and it all comes back to me.  Not only the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, but also the terrorist attack… Read More

Step Into Every Blessed Second of Life

September 4th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

I know today is Wednesday and that I have to go to work. But other than that, I really don’t know what the day has in store for me. I’m sure I will talk to someone in my family and maybe also talk to one of my good friends, and I will work hard today to get some tasks accomplished in the office that need my attention. Some of what happens today is up to me. How will I react as I drive to work? Will I keep a smart remark to myself or feel the need to blurt it… Read More

Newtown On Labor Day

September 2nd, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

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

A New Place To Live

August 26th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

Good Morning Fantastic Readers!This past weekend was interesting and productive and I hope yours was too!  The weekends just fly by wayyyyy too quickly don’t they? Part of my weekend was spent visiting a family member.  In the course of my visit, I could tell we were going to fall into our usual conversational trap of going over the same ground that we have covered many times before.  You know what I mean, right?  The person brings up a certain subject and you know what they’re going to say and you try to change their mind or at least get… Read More

A New Week

August 19th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

I am with you my dear readers as we begin a new week together!!!! I hope your weekend was full of exciting adventures and laughter and love and family and friends. Mine seemed to zip by in a blink. While I have many things that I want to tell you about, I ran out of time to sit down and put them in complete thoughts and sentences. There is definitely more to come but today I leave you with the below thought since change and more change seems to be the theme of my life these days: The only way… Read More

Sonia Sotomayor

July 25th, 2013
Posted By: Mary Kate Cranston

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