I noticed the other day that Christmas is back. The signs were small, but distinct. I went looking for my holiday coffee mugs, grinning as I liberated them from an upper shelf, where they had been imprisoned for four straight calendar rotations of December 25s. Oh, yes, and far back in the dusty, unused section […]
Waking up alone on a holiday is a particular type of solitude. Over the years I’ve come to dread it far less than I once did. But it is best, I’ve learned, to push back against holiday isolation with action. So when I realized I would be alone at home this Thanksgiving morning for several […]
You wouldn’t hear much these days about the Seven Deadly Sins, unless some aspiring social media “influencer” transformed them into Seven Deadly Sins that will Hamper Your Career—or some other impossibly simplified, allegedly self-helping pablum that was then shared on some garbage-filled social channel, receiving “likes” from thousands. Well. I’ve already digressed, and we’re just […]
Picture the following scene: It’s early on a Saturday morning, and a group of about eight women, some perky and eager, some bleary-eyed and quiet, pull up their chairs around a large table. They exchange a few friendly greetings and begin rustling keyboards or pens and journals into position, while the leader of the group […]
We all have problems that we know, someday when courage permits, must be faced. Could today be the day that I am tough enough? Maybe I can’t really do this myself. Should I summon professional help? It is time to excavate the interior of my purse. I mean, really. I’m ordinarily not one to skirt […]
School roared back into session just a few weeks ago, and like night follows day, it’s already here. It’s FUNDRAISING SEASON! And thus arrived my first opportunity to serve as the sales target of an earnest and highly focused six-year-old. It began this way: As I walked into the room, I observed him turning to […]
Nicknames show up in funny ways. Some may spring from characters in music, books, or movies, but others, perhaps, from the times in which we live. I’m pretty sure that’s the case for the moniker that recently came to mind for my granddaughter. You can count on one thing with certainty when it comes to […]
There could be enthralling cartoons rolling merrily on the screen, there might even be fierce artistic fervor unfolding, there may be arguing, even shoving, with battle lines being negotiated . Just about any attention-grabber the universe can wave before my two grandkids could roar along in any given moment, but I can trump it, hands-down, […]
G-ma was delighted when a couple of recent installments of the Chronicles inspired readers to recall some of their own favorite family lore. Even better, they wrote and shared their memories and bestowed permission to pass them on. Over the years, G-ma has become a fervent believer that there’s a funny thread somewhere in every […]
I knew it would be like this when you returned. It’s always been this way. The signs are there, omnipresent as the dawn, in the mirror, out the window, in the sky if I dare look up. You arrive early, and arrogantly linger later each day, beholden to no one, keeper of the clock, doling […]