The first clue that my relationship with my mother was about to change was when, toward the end of my first pregnancy, she announced she’d quit her office job at a discount store.  She did this as she nonchalantly put it, to “help me with the baby.”

“… Read full post »

A few years ago I was desperately trying to get out of a dead end, soul-sucking call center job before I got too complacent and ended up dying, mid-call, with my headset on. After much soul searching, I decided there was only one way to assume command of my future, including… Read full post »

It's long been an accepted notion that children and young people have a greater capacity for dealing with stressful events.

Many of us have heard or said the following phrases at one time or another. 

"Don't worry about him, kids are resilient."

"She's young; she'll bounce back."… Read full post »

What a difference a year makes. 

December, 1999.  A week before Christmas, we were nearly to his boss’s front door when Keith stopped.  It was a cold, clear night.  The house glowed, warm and inviting.  Good cheer and good times beckoned from all the windows. … Read full post »

It wasn't the job of my dreams but it was a full time job, with benefits, and that's all that mattered.  

It was the early 1980's.  I was 23.  I'd graduated with an English degree and not much else and I had to find work quickly.  The student loan bills… Read full post »

From the time she could wield a plastic shovel, my youngest daughter Dianna has begged me for a vegetable garden.  I don’t know where this notion came from but I think it’s absolutely wonderful.

There are so many rewards for kids when they become one with the earth.  They see… Read full post »

Their voices always give them away.  It’s not what they say; it’s their tone.  It’s unnaturally quiet.  They say hello and tell me they want to file a claim.  Then they wait for me to ask the questions.  They don’t pelt me with information like my othe… Read full post »

“Mommy, look what I got on my math test!”  My kids had just come home from school and my ten-year-old daughter Dianna ran into the kitchen waving her latest exam.  She’d gotten an A on it but then, she usually did. 

“Yay!” I yelled.  “Yay, yay… Read full post »

Finally, he’s gone.

Before he handed over power to the military not long ago, when I learned this morning that Egypt’s autocratic 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak had refused to quit, stunning and angering hundreds of thou… Read full post »

Ever since my father was diagnosed just before Christmas with advanced dementia -Alzheimer’s Disease, although none of my family can bring ourselves to call it that - it seems a floodgate has opened in his mind.  If I look at him, I can almost see the words flying out of his… Read full post »

When my kids have a day off from school, I sometimes also take a day off from work so we can spend some quality time together; nothing fancy, just hanging out at home and bonding.  Any wise parent who has a full-time job knows it’s not the big Disneyworld-type moments that… Read full post »

By the time a person reaches a certain age, he or she has (presumably!) learned a thing or two about social etiquette and polite conversation.

For example, just because someone is wearing a bandana, it is not acceptable to ask him how chemo is going.  An anorexic usually won’t laugh if… Read full post »

There should be a better way to detect bad guys.  

After listening to all I could take about the attempted murder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, along with the six others that died and fourteen who were wounded, that was the only conclusion I could draw.  People can point fingers, blame… Read full post »

This past Christmas I couldn’t bring myself to shop for my children.  Partly that’s because I didn’t feel like dealing with the throngs at the mall, Wal-Mart or even my favorite local haunt, Mo’ Fo’ Yo’ Do’ Pawn Shop, Tanning and Ped/… Read full post »

The other day I read an article in my local paper about President Obama’s unemployment benefits extension.  Several jobless people across the country were interviewed.  Some are living out of their cars.  Others are hairsbreadth away from foreclosure.  Those with children/… Read full post »