Big Little Adjustments

August 1st, 2016
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squirting

August begins anew today, giving us cause to flip the calendar to a new page.

Yes I am old-school and still use paper calendars. Perhaps you find electronic devices easier, but I happen to think paper is fun and enjoy the different beach and nature themes of the calendars I have hanging in my kitchen, my home office and my work office.

As I quickly flip the calendar page, I feel a flash of melancholy as I realize that another month, especially a summer month, has come and gone.  The summer season is so uplifting for me that I really … Read More

Real Life Re-Entry

July 25th, 2016
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  Today I reluctantly come back to the real world. I have been living as Beach Bum Girl for the past week and loving every minute of it.  To say that the beach is my Happy Place is an understatement.  Every year I return to the same beach with family and friends so that I may slow down and embrace the simple and beautiful ways of living near the shore. Hopefully a vacation of some sort is in your summer plans.  We all need to spend time away from our work routines and relax because it’s important for maintaining good… Read More

Holiday Triggers

July 4th, 2016
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  The Fourth of July and other long holiday weekends which happen during these spectacular summer months are truly the best for unwinding from the stresses of our daily go-go routines. More time is spent outdoors relaxing and doing the things that we all look forward to: gardening, swimming, walking, grilling and just chillin’ and loungin’ in our favorite space. But those activities can also serve as a difficult reminder that a loved one is no longer with us and while I hope that those reminders don’t stop you from going ahead and doing what you planned, those wistful thoughts… Read More

Daddy’s Home

June 19th, 2016
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You learn a lot about how to navigate the ups and downs of life by watching your parents. I know I did. The people in charge of raising us, for better or worse, are the people who have the first opportunity at influencing us.  Even when we begin to think we have life figured out for ourselves, we may still think back to something that one of our parents did or said and think to ourselves, “I wonder how they did that?”  “I wonder how they knew that?”  Or  perhaps your parents weren’t so wonderful and you might be thinking, … Read More

Healthy Selfishness

May 31st, 2016
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How was your Memorial Day weekend?  Having that extra day was the best! I hope it was relaxing and the holiday weekend went pretty much the way you had planned it. Before I continue with thoughts about Memorial Day weekend, let me say I am feeling bad about being away from Cry Laugh Heal recently and not posting as often as I would prefer.  I have not forgotten AT ALL about you or the ongoing dialogue we’ve started about working through our grief feelings while also trying to create new lives after the death of a loved one. However, I… Read More

The Name Game

May 13th, 2016
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I am dating myself by asking you this question but it’s for a sweet reason so I’m going to go with it. Do you remember a popular song called The Name Game? It was a big hit when I was a young girl.  In fact, it was a huge hit that aired on the radio constantly.  My friends, siblings and I used to sing it ALL THE TIME because it was so absolutely silly.  We rode a big yellow school bus to elementary school five days a week from our house and I remember for a number of months we… Read More

A New Delicious Season

April 15th, 2016
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    There is nothing like a farmer’s market.  I am totally into them. You can ask anyone who knows me about how much I love to either walk to a farmer’s market or pull the car over to the side of the road to check one out. Some of my favorites include the farmer’s market in Bethany Beach, Delaware and the farmer’s market located in one of New York City’s great public space, Union Square. Yesterday was the season opener for the farmer’s market near my office in Washington, DC so you know I was a happy person as… Read More

5 On Friday

April 8th, 2016
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  What a freakin’ roller coaster of a week! Since I feel a bit spun around by the events of the last few days, it’s difficult today to put my thoughts into a few simple declarative sentences. Instead I found this dreamy picture. I really wish I were sitting in this car right now, smelling the fresh salt air and letting the warm ocean breeze play through my hair knowing that I could open the door, run to the beach and go swimming. But since I’m not really sitting in this car, I can do the next best thing:  imagine… Read More

Caregiving And Magical Thinking

April 1st, 2016
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When I typed “caregiving” into the Google search bar the following phrases immediately came up: Caregiving is difficult Caregiving is ruining my marriage Caregiving is a thankless job Caregiving is killing me Wow!.  More and more families are faced with issues of caregiving and are feeling the physical and emotional drain of it no matter how much you care about and love the person you are trying to help. Caregiving can be rewarding in surprising ways but it also can be challenging in ways you never imagined. I come from a large family and I really can’t remember a time… Read More