My best pal, a shiny, stunning “ginger,” as the British call redheads, is getting white on top. Surely it has happened gradually, but I suddenly noticed it recently, in full force, for the first time. Staring at her across the room for the zillionth time as she dozed in the blissful sleep of the guiltless, I […]
All you grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents, and kindly friends of families with children out there, Heads Up. Summer is here, and we want the kiddos to visit, right? Of course, we do; under the right circumstances, we love it. It’s a cherished highlight of the whole adult/child experience. And yet, are we really ready? […]
My mother turned 87 a few weeks back, so I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about her legacy—never more, of course, than around Mother’s Day. And I remembered a time a few months ago when a kind friend told her, in my presence, that she had raised wonderful children. My mother smiled in […]
Over the last few months, the most wondrous thing has suddenly picked up steam like a bullet train. My 7-year-old grandson is READING. Just about everywhere, and everything. Books for his younger sister, longer and more complex stories for himself, the funny papers, restaurant menus, street signs, instructions on the sides of game boxes. He […]
Let’s get to the meat first, and get the suspense out of the way: I blew it. Or, you could view it through a different lens, and say I triumphed. You can decide for yourself, with some scoop on the details. About what, you ask? For those who missed the earlier installment (read it here, […]
I saw Death And I grieved, right then Stock still, I recalled the you of summers past, at your finest Suave sentinel, on duty at the front door Loosely, artistically lounging at your post Terribly handsome, careless and oblivious to shape or direction, reclining where you pleased Your blossom deliveries grew more robust every season, […]
Several avid readers in my circle of friends and family are among the legions of fans of Nashville’s own Ann Patchett—-acclaimed novelist, non-fiction writer, and renowned advocate for independent booksellers. As such, the recent holiday season included a lot of chatter here and there—over cocktails, around dinner tables, and on Facebook— about her mid-December essay […]
(photo credit: Getty/AFP/Jim Watson) Do you hear the children? Their voices are clear, direct, ubiquitous. They are asking us something important. Actually, they are demanding something. They are demanding change. If you haven’t heard this swelling chorus in recent days, you might have been hiking on a mountaintop with no cell service, or otherwise disconnected […]
Ah, the slow-crawling days of deepest winter. Lead-gray, sodden, and short, these are the days that incline us to stay inside and shut tight the door. In the sanctuary of home, we turn inward, to examine…what? Maybe, our plans and hopes for the year. Or, perhaps the insides of our hearts. Or, if we are […]
And here we are: The Holiday Aftermath has arrived. If you are among the fortunate for whom the holidays brought fellowship and giving and celebration, you may hope that memories of those times will sustain you as you face the stark days of winter’s depth and the blank page of the New Year. If you […]