Last August, my son and his wife welcomed twin daughters into the world. Bob and I were there, along with the other about-to-be grandparents and a few other lucky family members. Months before, Dan had called with the astonishing news of two babies, where we…

Thanksgiving is over, but I’m still thinking about gratitude. Two things happened, shortly after the holiday, that have me pondering what gratitude is, and how it might sustain us. I am not one for truisms and affirmations. Give me Leonard Cohen’s “There is a crack…

Let me introduce myself. I’m a poet. I love good poetry. (It’s not all good, far from it.) When someone asks me to compose a poem for an occasion, I’m usually up for it, though I won’t write love poems for you to text to…

When we travel, I tend to look up every trivial thing that pops into my head. How old is Ringo Starr? Is Marianne Faithful still alive? Why was the University of Iowa so ticked off at the Stanford marching band? Could I order a tortilla…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and as I review what I wrote in 2015, certain truths leap off the page, some more pleasant than others. Somewhat chronologically, I learned the following, whether I wanted to or not: The…

It happened three weeks before Christmas. My husband and I dashed into Bed, Bath, and Infinity to find a _____ [details deleted to ensure my 30-something daughter is ecstatically surprised by the gift we bought there] and were confronted by one of those pre-holiday displays…

There I was last night, cleaning up, checking the computer, and setting out my breakfast stuff, when it started to dawn on me. Why, I wondered, was I in such a rush to get to bed by my usual time, when I knew I didn’t…

As summer yields fitfully to autumn, my life has taken an eentsy-beentsy turn toward the miserable. Just when I thought it couldn’t get much worse than a chronic daily migraine, I fell on the stairs and cracked two foot bones, one of them known for…

Big bad changes are afoot in my old neighborhood. Dismay has led me to some strange places, including a children’s picture book, a local history text, and a 2009 Pixar movie. The picture book is Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House. Published in 1942, it…

Not long ago, I stumbled onto an insight. It came to me as I descended the stairs at home in the dim early-autumn light. Preoccupied with random thoughts, this question failed to enter my mind: You think your right foot just landed on the last…

This summer, I had grand plans for my medical leave following what my doctor called “major surgery.” I stocked up on DVDs, magazines, and, especially, books. I bought new artwork for the bedroom walls, and readied the cherrywood lap desk my daughter gave me for…

I did something the other day I haven’t done in a long, long time. It’s something my parents were aces at, and a lot of my extended family, too. It’s simple, it’s fun, and it supplies a great feeling of accomplishment when you’re done. Why,…

Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954) wrote a terrific poem called “Reading Mother.” It starts off, “I had a mother who read to me Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea. Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth; Blackbirds stowed in the hold beneath.” Many of his references are…

When my husband and I went house shopping years ago, each of us had a mental checklist. Bob wanted a spot on the main floor for his weighty electronic keyboard. He was tired of lugging it up and down stairs for every music gig. I…

Unlike American movie stars and models, as I age, I’m not going to pretend that 65 is the new 37. Time is marching on, and it takes a little bit away every day, every year, no matter how we try to smooth things over, tighten…

When I was expecting my daughter, and then my son, the information I received came from two sources – a well-thumbed Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, and whatever my Lamaze teacher told me about delivering my child naturally yet (LOL) painlessly. Mom didn’t offer…

Just last week, a good friend of mine was rear-ended. He was okay, just a few scrapes and bruises, and the guy who hit him apologized profusely, offered to pay for the damage, and even took him home. The thing is, the guy who ran…

Cigarettes were everywhere, when I was growing up. Mom and Dad both smoked, and so did our relatives. Ashtrays and lighters abounded. We kept stick matches for when Grandpa came to visit, the better to light his pipe with. I must have reeked of smoke…

Although I talk a lot about my chronic headaches here because, hey, it’s my column, I don’t often talk about what it’s like to live with a chronically ill person. This could be because I have no idea what’s it like, because I’m lucky –…

Children’s books have been very much on my mind lately. My son and his wife are expecting twins, and the invitation to her baby shower urged everyone to give a book instead of a Hallmark card. What a great idea. As a librarian, a two-story…