If there are many things that lift the heart faster than making a child laugh, I can’t name them. The other day I tried a little trick with the grandkids with a bit of an ulterior motive, and it got a better laugh than I expected. Hey, Buddy, I said casually, do you hear the birds […]
It’s a surprisingly moving cinematic moment, when delivered as beautifully as this one is, to see an older man connect to a younger one by asking about his favorite stuffed toy from childhood. The older man is the legendary Fred Rogers, played by Tom Hanks in the hit movie It’s a Beautiful Day in the […]
If you are inclined this time of year to reminiscing about Christmases past, like so many of us of a certain age, you might linger on memories of treasured gifts you received as a child. Perhaps there was a favorite toy, a bicycle, or maybe a special outfit you wanted desperately and never thought your […]
The scene: A sunny Sunday afternoon in the neighborhood. The subject: G-ma’s new best pal, being lavishly admired by Buddy, camera in hand. The result: Documentary? Comedy? Biography? A pinch of all those flavors. Click below to tune in.
Is grandparenting is a joy like no other? Just ask a G., but only if you have plenty of time on your hands, because chances are you won’t get away quickly. In the age of social media, you could choke on all the evidence, drown in endless photos of beautiful small people indulged by Gs […]
There’s a little black dog curled up with his head under my chair as I sit here typing. He has shaggy, spiky-haired ears that make him look like Gandalf suffering from bedhead. There are fluffy, long tufts of hair between his large front toes, furthering the wizardly image. When furrowed, which is often, his ginger-colored […]
As high school reunions go, our 45th was pretty darn good fun. A core group of stalwarts who stayed in my hometown have been great about planning these gatherings regularly, and hats off to all of them for excellent planning and hospitality. As a regular reveler at these affairs, I can testify that after you attend […]
In the early morning half-light, long before I would routinely switch on bedroom lamps, I drop to the floor in my nightgown to the spot where she is dozing next to my bed. She has never been much of a cuddler, preferring to demonstrate her devotion in other, more dignified ways, but on this day, I […]
A late-season malaise has settled over the wide porch, the headquarters of summer at my house. The plants are sagging moodily in the August heat, their blooms barely even tired replicas of the first brilliant bursts. The shards of a broken pot, toppled to its demise in a stormy gust of wind, remain to be […]
The calendar is a mystifying tyrant, often conveying the passage of time with mathematics that defy the heart’s reality. This week She commands me to note that this Friday marks six years since my younger sister Jane died after a long battle with breast cancer. Six years? Calendar, are you sure? I can still hear […]