A Wedding Shower

September 23rd, 2011
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A Silver Tea Set Stands Ready

Two gleaming, freshly polished silver tea sets sit in my house right now, waiting in anticipation of my niece’s bridal shower this Sunday.  Originally, the sets belonged to my grandmothers and each set is as different as the woman who owned them.  They now belong to my Mom and she generously agreed to let me borrow them for this special family event.

I loved both of my grandmothers, Nana and Gammy, and it’s a tender feeling to see the tea sets resting in their new and temporary locations.  I knew my Mom’s mother very … Read More

An Online Chatting Momento

September 21st, 2011
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Courtesy of Good Magazine You’re online and you decide you want to chat.  It’s a normal, casual thing that lots of people regularly do.  It saves time and money and you don’t think too much about what you’re saying to the other person except that you keep it brief.  Blah, blah, blah…..blah, blah, blah. Yet is online chatting really as casual as you think? It’s popular now for people to save their chat records just as they save copies of their email correspondence or a voice message left on an answering machine. This is a new concept for me because… Read More

Reluctantly Falling Into Fall

September 2nd, 2011
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Early this morning I opened the front door to get the newspaper and felt a chill in the air that can mean only one thing:  the seasons are starting to change and I don’t like it. Summer is my very, very favorite season of the year.  It is totally the best! I know, I know, I hear lots of you out there saying something garbled about the heat and humidity in DC, but I don’t care.  Summer is light clothing, fresh fruits and vegetables and long days.  Summer is bare feet, freshly cut grass and beach time.  My thinking about… Read More

One Hilarious Beach Memory

August 13th, 2011
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Photo By Emily Noonan My son and I vacation at Bethany Beach, the same beach we have been enjoying since he was a toddler.  It’s also the same beach where I vacationed as a child.  This conjures up all sorts of memories for both of us and it gives my son a sense of stability.  We can’t imagine going anywhere else. The first time we vacationed in Bethany after my husband’s death, it was jarring, but we stayed positive and survived.  I had some meltdowns but they were in private.  More importantly, keeping up the vacation tradition gave us confidence… Read More

Independence Day

July 4th, 2011
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Photo by Eileen Milner Today is Independence Day, a day we as a nation celebrate to mark our break with the Kingdom of England and our birth as the United States of America.  As Americans living in a dynamic democracy, we share many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted. We are so lucky to live here and blessed with our way of life.  It continues to be a work in progress but I’ll take it over any other system of government.  I send my thanks to our leaders and those in the military who protect and serve us and… Read More

Mom is “WOW” Upside Down

May 8th, 2011
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Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and all the incredible Moms, GrandMoms and other women around the globe who do the most important job in the world!! Some of you out there may disagree, but I challenge you to find another job that comes close to being as rewarding. If your Mom is no longer with you, I hope the loving memories you have of her make you smile today. Being a Mom is the journey of a lifetime.  From the bottom of my heart, I have cherished every minute of being a mother to my son who is now… Read More

Thoughts of Two Special People

April 11th, 2011
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My thoughts today are filled with two special people whom I love very much. One of them is in the hospital and is scheduled to have a surgical procedure today.  I wish I could be with her to hold her hand, tell her how special she is and how much she means to me and so many other people.  My prayers are with her as the doctors do their work to make her healthy again. The other person, my husband, would have turned 80 years old today.  Happy Birthday O!  I know you are  in heaven  and I hope you’re… Read More

To Party Or Not

April 10th, 2011
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This year I have had two large parties at my house…and to my surprise, I have enjoyed myself.  One was for a family member who was celebrating a BIG birthday and the other was on New Year’s Day for my son and my best friends.  This may not sound like a big deal — but it is. With the exception of family events that happened after my husband’s death, I haven’t been ready to celebrate anything or plan for a party that would take place just to have fun.  In order to give a party, you have to be ready… Read More

A Pocket of Surprising Memories

March 26th, 2011
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The whole world is watching as the Japanese rebuild their lives with quiet diligence. News reports show incredible pictures of houses ripped from the earth, cars piled on top of each other and even the concrete tsunami walls built for protection have been broken up and easily tossed aside.  And then there is the nuclear issue…The enormity of the human and physical devastation in Japan as a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is difficult to comprehend and just seems endless. But one man in particular stands out for me.  I recently read an interview with this Japanese… Read More