Why do I love getting up every morning? My exercising as soon as I hop out of bed sets me up for a healthy-minded day My short daily prayer expresses my gratitude The Calm app sends me off on a serene, mindful tract provides me: And The Writers Almanac mental stimulation an appreciation of our fellow Continue reading

I remember years ago, when I was married to my first husband, traveling regularly from Florida to Ohio with my two small sons to visit my parents. Saying goodbye after an extended stay in my hometown was agonizing – my mother would cry uncontrollably and lament the unfairness of me living nearby my husband’s family Continue reading

Estrangement – what an ugly harsh sounding word – jarring to the ears in fact. The dictionary definition of estrangement is to turn away in feeling or affection, make unfriendly or hostile, alienate the affections of. Some synonyms – break-up, rupture, schism. Estrangements are shrouded in secrecy and shame. Estrangement is a stigma. It’s no Continue reading

Day One: Arrival Tried to unpack my stuff in my sister’s guest room, but no empty drawers. Immediately a flash of intense irritation swept over me – until I realized my guest room sported no empty drawers either. I very patiently began teaching my sister Maj Jong. Day Two: Skipped my non-fat vanilla yogurt for Continue reading

I am an emotional eater – more often than not I eat to soothe my feelings – not to fuel my body. And I’m a night eater. And, I’m just coming off of two evenings of back-to-back bingeing on sweets and carbs – fired by a “little bit” of wine. Each night post-binge, I tossed and turned in a Continue reading

Anne Bradstreet, America’s first published poet, died this week in 1692. She married at age 16 and bore her husband eight children. Unbeknownst to her, her brother- in-law sent her poems back to England to be published, assuring people that she did not shirk her wifely duties by stealing time to write poems. She was, Continue reading

If you are like most Americans, I’m willing to bet September 11, 2001 is at the top of your list of things that get to you. The events of that infamous day of wreckage and carnage reawakened our long dormant sense of vulnerability and of the importance of staying watchful and informed. Another significant milestone Continue reading

It’s 1959. I am sitting on my twin bed on the second floor of our two-story colonial. My GE transistor radio is on my night stand – blaring the song “A Teenager in Love” by Dion and the Belmonts. I am annoyed. My little brother is pesty. My little sister too young to hang-out with.  Continue reading

For quite a while, I’ve been thinking about doing a column on not living in the moment. Everyone I know seems to think that they live in the moment – and that perhaps their friends and family members would do well to take a few lessons from them. I am clearly in the judgmental group, by the way. Every week, Continue reading

Okay. Let’s face it: Everyone has something in their life that could be deemed slightly or very much obsessive. It’s not surprising that the game of Maj Jong became my preoccupation during the long days of social distancing we are enduring due to Covid. The game is entwined into the very roots of my nature. Continue reading