September 11, 2017

September 11th, 2017
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september

National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City

“The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops.

The same is true of the laugh.” ~ Samuel Beckett, Waiting For Godot

All of us carry images in our minds that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

I think it is safe to say that some of the images we will never forget include the events of September 11, 2001.

While this horrific event and the thousands of lives lost during that tragic day happened … Read More

Holiday Weekend — Labor Day

September 1st, 2017
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How many ways can you say HOLIDAY WEEKEND?!?!?!?! I am soooooo happy today to be on the cusp of Labor Day weekend, a very welcome three-day break from the grind of work. I plan to have a long relaxing lunch with a wonderful friend on Saturday and then on Sunday go to another great friend’s house for a delicious seafood dinner with lots of homemade classic sides such as cole slaw and potato salad. Double Yummmmm.  I’m already picturing the food in my mind and getting hungry. I hope you have some fun plans for yourself and your buds or… Read More

Healing Is Not Linear

August 30th, 2017
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One of the most excellent things about reading is when you discover a fictional character in a book who expresses something you have been feeling but haven’t been able to describe. This happened to me the other night while I was reading the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Olive Kitteridge by the beautiful writer and author Elizabeth Strout. In the book, I am introduced to Angie O’Meara, a middle-aged woman who plays piano in a cocktail lounge in Maine.  She has had a few drinks while playing Christmas carols during her shift and out of the corner of her eye she… Read More

5 Great Places To Laugh

May 30th, 2017
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There are a handful of people in my life who can make me laugh so hard that I CAN NOT get my breath and one of them is my brother, Scotty. He has an unbelievable sense of humor.  I’m not telling tales out of school when I say that hands down he does the best imitation of our mother and the fact that he usually does it in front of her makes it even funnier.  Not to worry.  Our Mom thinks he is funny too and she always laughs at his skits, especially the ones featuring her! My brother can… Read More

5 Purifying Places to Cry

May 16th, 2017
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Emmy Award Winning Actor Jon Hamm as Mad Men’s Don Draper (Yes, Men Do Cry & That’s Okay) Sometimes the feeling starts in my throat. It feels tight.  I try to swallow a few times to see if that will make it go away. The next thing I know a lump has formed as I begin to feel my eyes well up with water.  I try looking up at the ceiling because a good friend told me this is a trick she uses to prevent crying. Or I pinch the bridge of my nose so that I focus on the … Read More

Grief Sucks

April 8th, 2017
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My Dad At A Gonzaga Rally  Dear Faithful Friends: Excuse my French, but as the title of this post suggests, grief does suck. I haven’t been on social media very much lately though it’s not for lack of trying.  Since my Dad’s death in February, I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to sit down and write something but all the words get balled up. I know I am stating the obvious but it needs to be said.  When you call something what it is, you bring it out into the open.  Maybe it just sits in… Read More

Wearing Of The Green

March 17th, 2017
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Me and My Dad Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day Nobody loved St. Patrick’s Day more than my Dad! I know that in the last post I offered to you, I wrote about my Dad’s passing but I couldn’t resist writing about him again because today is his favorite holiday. From the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep, my Dad made sure that he celebrated every second of St. Patrick’s Day. He took a lot of pride in his Irish heritage and that meant he wore as much green as he could on Paddy’s Day, he played… Read More

Love Connections

February 14th, 2017
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Valentine’s Day may be what some people call a “Hallmark Holiday” but love is always worth celebrating whether you embrace all of the commercial hoopla or just quietly light a candle, give a meaningful hug or tap out a telephone number to connect with a special person. Love gives us hope.  Love makes us feel all tingly inside and helps our resilient hearts beat a little faster.  Love is exciting. Love is also risky.  To find it is definitely a roll of the emotional dice and, depending on the person, you may want to immediately throw the dice.  Or as … Read More

Merry Christmas 2016

December 24th, 2016
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Photo Courtesy of Victoria Magazine Just like you, I have surrounded myself this past week with rolls of wrapping paper, scotch tape, ribbons and layers of tissue paper as I have carefully and lovingly wrapped Christmas presents for my family and friends. Some of the presents made me smile for they brought back how I felt when I found the particular item and how I immediately knew it was the right gift.  Score! But as I came to the presents that I had bought for my parents they seemed woefully inadequate. My parents are now in their eighties and at… Read More