It stopped me cold, and I couldn’t change the channel. It was Barbara Stanwyck, in 1937’s Stella Dallas, a film I hadn’t seen in years. It’s the story of a working class mother who manages to marry into money, leaves her husband, then raises her daughter under difficult (and questionable) circumstances. Years later, when the […]
Time on Your Hands?
Spare time? Are you kidding? What do you do when your friends or partners can take time off, and you simply can’t? When your schedule is bursting at the seams, even on the weekends? What if you feel like there’s never time to catch up, to take stock, to plan productively, much less to snooze, […]
Flop House
I tripped over shoes in the living room. It was dark, and the shoes didn’t belong to either of my sons. This is not new. The body on the couch was longer and broader than usual, mumbling good morning as I covered him with a fallen comforter and went to my younger son’s room and […]
Stilled By the State of My World
She rarely speaks, usually nodding her head and smiling. This morning she talked to me, loading my weekly groceries into the trunk. Her English is poor, but comprehensible. She looked troubled. My Neighbor, Myself She has been working as a bagger at my local supermarket for 10 years. She is a single mother, mid-thirties. Her […]
The Friendship Fix
Friendships often falter after serious life events.
Romance Fitness
Spring, with its indefinable je ne sais quoi. And it has me thinking about taking risk, about lifestyle change, about romance. Let’s be honest. Sex is accessible to most of us, if we really want it. But romance is a different story. It’s a matter of the heart, whatever your marital or parental status. It […]
“I Feel Beautiful”
I’m low on sleep. My back is aching. I’m worried about my kid, and the bills, and upcoming deadlines. Yet – I feel beautiful. Maybe it’s that surge of energy from the gentleman who took care of my tires last week, the unexpected pleasure of an act of kindness, accompanied by a subtle flirtation. Maybe […]
Take a Chance
When risk-taking takes a powder, what you’re risking may be a fulfilling life.
Chivalry is NOT dead
Bump in the road? Who doesn’t encounter a bump in the road from time to time – or a string of bumps in the road? But here’s the good news: Chivalry is not dead. Oh, I didn’t think it was, mind you. But now I know that it isn’t. I have proof. At least, I […]
Sixth Sense
I thought it was over. In fact, I was certain of it. I have two meticulously penned grids that resemble handwritten spreadsheets. They’re taped to the fridge. There are labeled folders, one for each school, filled with notes and documented conversations, all neatly date and time stamped. I had polished off the highest priority item […]