My husband, Mike and I took a two-week vacation together.  Mike took pictures.  I knew he took a lot of pictures, but I didn't realize how many until I added them all up.

He took 3,245 pictures in 15 days.  Oh, wait, that's probably not accurate because I'm sure I took… Read full post »

My knees hurt.  My back is killing me.  I’m cold and uncomfortable and half-awake.

But regardless of all that, I have the most profound feeling of gratefulness this morning.  It’s seven a.m. and the sun is up.  From where I’m sitting at this little table on th… Read full post »

Back in April 1990, I gave birth to a one-pound-twelve-ounce little girl.  She arrived ninety-eight days early and spent her first ninety-two days in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  Her survival during those thirteen weeks was a daily rollercoaster; she almost died four times.  But sh… Read full post »

Soon after I started dating Charles (my children’s father), he took me over to a house a few streets down from his, to meet his best friends.  Jim and Betty were about ten years older than we were, Charles told me, and so they thought of him like a little brother. … Read full post »

It was one of those bright-hot Florida days.  The sun was relentless, broiling everything it touched.  I begged my mom, begged and pleaded with her.

“Please, I’m dying.”  Certainly she would listen to her beloved youngest child if she could be convinced tha… Read full post »

Until my family moved to Florida in 1971 when I was ten, I attended a private Catholic school.  There was one child with a disability in my whole school and it just so happened that she was in my grade.  Given the times, she probably would not have been allowed to… Read full post »

I just counted them up, and to my utter amazement, I have had twenty-one best friends in my life.  This is counting only same-gender-friends.  Girlfriends.  Twenty-one!  I had to ask myself, C’mon, were they really all best friends?

To me, a real best friendship is one wh… Read full post »

My husband and I are planning a two-week-long vacation this summer.  It's the first two-week vacation we've taken since 1998 when we took our three kids with us to Ironton, Ohio for New Year's.

(Why would people who live in Florida choose to go to Ohio in the dead of… Read full post »

This past weekend, my husband and I stopped by our local Ford dealership to ask a couple questions and when we left, the hubby was pissed.  So I sighed and said to him, “Okay, I’ll write a letter.”

Binx, making himself at home on Hubby's… Read full post »

 
“You deserved to have your baby die!”

“Your baby that died – she was lucky because she didn’t have to grow up with you as her mother!”

“Let me tell you a few things, the only reason I live is for Grandma &… Read full post »

This picture was taken in 1932 or 1933, which were the two… Read full post »

A Weekend Summer Night, 1998

It was almost two a.m. when I typed the last word and clicked the “save” button.  Leaning back in my black leather office chair, I stretched and momentarily savored the satisfaction of finishing another project, completing another deliverable in the state… Read full post »

I’ve only been here at OS for a short time but it’s been long enough to feel the culture.  It took a while for me to find the right phrase but I think that’s close to what I’m thinking.

Feel the culture.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas… Read full post »

This past Sunday, I experienced a first.  It certainly wasn’t the first Easter for me, and no, it wasn’t the first time I’ve ever cooked a big meal (though my husband and sons would probably beg to differ since I don’t cook often).  It was the f… Read full post »

I did do that.  Taught him to cheat.  But I’ll get to that later.

My nephew, David was diagnosed with a severe seizure disorder when he was five years old.  The good news was, daily Phenobarbital prevented more seizures.  The bad news was that it also affected his learning.… Read full post »

 My Uncle Grover was born in 1893 and died in 1977 at the age of 83.  His wife, my Aunt Isabelle, was born in 1908 and died in 1996 when she was 88 years old.  

^{Grover, 71 and Isabelle, 56.  Taken in 1964, sorry about the}… Read full post »

I was married to the man who fathered my children for eight years.  I lived with him for two years before we were married, so altogether we cohabitated for ten solid years.  Thing is, we were monumentally unsuited, mismatched, and downright incompatible, right from the get-go.  It's am… Read full post »

My parents raised seven children, six of their own and one foster child.  Their first child was born in 1949 and their last child (me) reached the age of majority (18) in 1979, so that's thirty full years of child-rearing.

Our family… Read full post »

Colleen was my mother's best friend.  Too bad my mom couldn't stand her.

One of my very earliest memories took place at Colleen's house.  I remember sitting at her kitchen table and looking out the window at the swirling snow while chewing on a banana for breakfast.  I couldn't have be… Read full post »

Take a look at a dozen old pictures.  What do you see?

I have, so far, uploaded over 450 pictures from my mother's vast collection, and I've learned a great deal during the process.  I've become more familiar with my own family tree, I found out how certain cousins… Read full post »

"But here is a partial list of those who
I'd really like to share some tips with..."

Back in 1985 - twenty-five years ago, has it really been that long? - I was offered a job in the Training Department of a bank.  My very first training assignment was/… Read full post »

 My grandfather’s first name was Edward but nobody called him that.  His middle name was Bernard.  You would think by the spelling that his middle name would be pronounced “Ber-NARD,” but i/… Read full post »

I began this blog because I miss you.  I wrote the other day about the power of the written word and how I believe that somehow my words will reach across this chasm between us.  That said, I don't plan to write letters all the time - to you or… Read full post »

All my life I thought our family was related to Robert Wagner.

Yeah, the television and movie star Robert Wagner.  RJ.  Jonathon Hart.  Him.

The reason I thought we were related to him was because our dad told us so.  My father wasn't the type to tell tall tales or even to exaggerat… Read full post »