I like to think I became a grandparent at a fairly young age (don’t we all?). Let’s don’t dwell on whether that is a delusion. Just believe me when I say that life can sometimes look very similar to the way it rolled before the age of the spirit begins to diverge widely from the […]
It is a truth universally acknowledged (as the immortal Austen might have put it), that giving stuff to kids is fun. They make it so easy for you, the little buggers, when they radiate anticipation, joy, and wonder in such bewitching fashion, whether ripping into a birthday gift, staring through that store window, or beholding […]
The first time I saw her, she was sitting alone in the bleachers, a row or two above and to the side of my little cluster of friends as we waited for the pep rally to start. We were freshmen in high school, that tender, socially feverish age when your friendships are everything and time […]
Seated recently at my table for Sunday dinner, my grandson uttered a phrase that is sure to make the heart of any grandparent sing with delight and hope for the future. “May I please have some more mashed potatoes?” he asked, with perfect decorum. It might be unfair to say I was shocked by this […]
I had the chance to feed Buddy and Sis their dinner the other day, and when thinking ahead to the menu, I thought I’d try something easy that might be a fun change of pace. We’ve always been big breakfast fans in my family, and upending the routine to serve morning food at the end […]
“I declare, I believe that boy has a hollow leg.” This affectionate observation was delivered many years back at family dinners by our great uncle, watching in good-humored amazement as my little brother worked deftly through his heavily laden plate of food. It was briefly amusing, I remember, to wonder if my brother could really […]
Those of us who reach mid-life (a time-frame with a definition that seems to stretch, these days, thank heavens) and still have one or both of our parents are among the very fortunate, indeed. And as the journey continues, inevitably we find that the seasons of health and life as we know it for those […]
A few years back I read a fascinating book about Te Maori, the first U. S. exhibition of ancient art from the native Maori people of New Zealand. The opening of the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York was preceded by elaborate tribal rituals symbolizing honor for and protection of the ancestral artists, […]
It seems indisputable that today’s world harbors parenting challenges that we never imagined when my daughter was young. Yet one essential truth remains, universally acknowledged then and now: Two-year-olds are impossible. The other night my daughter, a devoted, creative, and loving mother, sank back into the cushions on my living room couch with a massive […]
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 […]