It’s Father’s Day. The first thing I did when I woke was go straight to the small framed Polaroid of my dad and me, taken on the last day I saw him. Father’s Day, nearly 25 years ago. There are a handful of other images tucked away. But that one, of the two of us, […]
Where everyone knows your name
Cheers Bar It was afternoon. Late. I had to get out of the house. See people. Something different. Anything. And it was Friday. I had been chicken a week earlier. Unable to talk myself into an elegant bar just 20 yards in front of me. I wasn’t going to be chicken again, but I needed […]
Opposites Attract
It isn’t just about romantic relationships, though these are the most obvious examples. Opposites attract, and often thrive. Consider the couples you know – their physical or behavioral differences. Their widely divergent backgrounds. Now think about the facets of your own personality that you like the most, along with the traits you love in others […]
Making Excuses
Setting goals you can’t seem to meet? Are you fighting to attain a dress size? Looking to lose extra pounds and never quite making your goal weight? Your “skinny jeans” make a mockery of your daily diet and your self-esteem. You visit your closet nostalgically, running your fingers over jackets and blouses that once made […]
Home Alone
It is a long weekend in the States. A holiday. Memorial Day. For some, it is a day spent in realization of this occasion. But for most, this weekend announces the arrival of summer vacations, of travel, of family time. Carefree or carefully constructed schedules. A break in routine. A break, of any sort. And […]
Going the distance
Ground to cover Yesterday blurs over in my mind already; so much ground was covered. From one part of the city to another, like a yo-yo, to and from the house. Eventually, to the airport at some distance away. The hours marched along as they had to, simultaneously swift and sluggish: laundry, errands, packing, more […]
Why I’m Fond of Isopropyl Alcohol
Oddities I woke early, heart racing, dark dreams prickling – my own version of a global thriller, complete with missing mid-century masterpieces, a chase scene through a foreign airport, running for my life across an unknown border, and the face of the enemy in pursuit. Frankly, I kept waiting for action hero Jason Bourne to pop […]
Can you be bought?
Everything has its price I’ve spent days, weeks really, maneuvering through objects and obstacles. In my little den. The jammed office. My bedroom, the living room, a wretched corner in the kitchen. I am looking. Taking silent inventory. Running numbers in my head. I toss aside the memories as best I can. Memories of marriage […]
Rescuing dreams
There is something I am not seeing. There must be. I am unable to fight back the waves. I erect a barrier, and it holds, briefly. Then it crumbles, and I am knocked down and submerged. I pull myself up and rebuild, as another wall of water rises beneath a deceptive sky. And I am […]
Parenting Without a Safety Net
Your credentials, please? Parenting may be a profession – and certainly is, in my view – but there are no guarantees, no cap and gown after years of study. No diploma. No certification. Just a physician handing over a squalling little creature that owns your heart. And then it’s off to the races, figuring it […]