I have a confession – a huge confession: I cannot remember the last time I cleaned out my refrigerator. I mean REALLY cleaned out my refrigerator – not just desultorily wiping off a shelf here and there.  I didn’t realize how gross it was until I came home from the New York City area after Continue reading

Anyone who resides in the state of Florida lives under the threat of a major hurricane occurring between June 1 and November 30  – EVERY YEAR! And there are many of us certainly getting our fill of hurricanes in the last couple of weeks. I started googling ways to comfort oneself after a hurricane and came up with Continue reading

I am taking time during the ten days of the Days of Awe – which begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur – to learn new ways to respond to an old situation.  Like many of my friends, who are parents of adult children, we struggle with the power dynamic between the generations and Continue reading

We are now in the autumn of the year, but it’s always the right time to bloom again in Preserving Your Bloom (PYB) land. How to be my own best friend?I pose that question to myself often throughout my day. And why do I so often treat my friends with more consideration and kindness than I treat Continue reading

Remember the famous line from the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters”? “Who You Gonna Call?  If you’re seeing thingsRunning through your headWho can you call?(Ghostbusters) Who you gonna call?(Ghostbusters) If you’re all alonePick up the phoneAnd call(Ghostbusters) I wish there really was someone like Ghostbusters to call when we were troubled, sad or at a crossroads. Power through?“Not so fast,” a therapist Continue reading

I’m going through a murky time.I’m restless – not sleeping well.I’m torn in too many conflicting directions.I have an over-abundance of choicesand no clear way forward.I’m wandering  without direction.Unwanted thoughts assault me. My brain craves predictability, routine and a state of equilibrium – I crave balance and steadiness and instead I get upheaval and uncertainty and cloudiness. So Continue reading

I love newspapers: I love the routine of them – some thrown strategically onto my driveway – some coming tucked into my mail box.And I love the ability to randomly rip out articles that grab my attention. And that love of the printed newspaper is actually how my column got started. When my youngest and fifth son Continue reading

I have a confession. Sometimes I can say the most tactless things – not fully realizing the effect my words have. A couple of months ago I came across this quote: I LOVE MY FRIENDS. I JUST WISH I DIDN’T HAVE TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME WITH THEM. I lightheartedly repeated the quote to some of my buddies Continue reading

I think we all have mixed feelings about the profound effect technology, apps, the Internet, Facebook, etc., have on our lives.  Sometimes, though, magic happens and it did on August 16, 2024 when I came across this beautiful poem written by a former classmate of mine. Thank you Judi Kipner-Wolf for allowing me to share your lovely Continue reading

I found it on Facebook – a one-hour candlelight concert held at the iconic Centro Asturiano de Tampa – a club opened in 1902 for Spanish immigrants and their descendants to socialize. (Those old, elegant structures powerfully draw me in.) Advertised as “A one-of-a-kind experience in a candlelit setting,” a four-string quartet from the symphony would be Continue reading