Old friends invited my husband and me to dinner last weekend. The weather was delightful after the storms, heat and humidity of recent days. We shared stories of old times and people, which doesn’t always come easily anymore. What was his name?… I think it was 1975? 1976?… That was before, no wait, it was after… I turned 70 in June. I’m the oldest among … Continue reading The Gift of Turning 70
I became a socialist in the early ’70s before attending college. While never a member, I’ve been involved off and on in different capacities with the U.S. Socialist Workers Party (SWP) ever since — until last spring. In April I broke off my connection over political differences. This has led to a series of letters, texts and emails between myself and a close friend since … Continue reading My Liberal Turn
Souls tend to go back to who feels like home. N.R. Hart This past Friday is a day I will long cherish. My college friend, Wendy, lives in Australia now but comes back home to the states from time to time. We last saw each other before the pandemic — too long! Freed now of lockdowns and travel restrictions we met this week and were … Continue reading A Day to Remember a Lifetime of Memories
I’ve come to realize that 2022 has apparently been a very hard year for me emotionally. A series of big events have apparently thrown me for a loop: a life-changing political upheaval in April, a distressing family hospitalization, and several months of chaos & disruption with two home renovation projects. I didn’t fully appreciate the impact all this has had on me until some medical … Continue reading Missing the Point: Meditation, Rumination & Journaling
Life seems so busy these days with constant activity here. As friends are probably tired of hearing, we’ve been having our kitchen and two bathrooms redone. We coming up on eight weeks and are growing weary of contractors, noise, dust, cooking in the laundry room and garage, and doing dishes in the bathtub. The weather this past weekend was picture perfect, so on David suggested … Continue reading Sadness, Beauty & Friendship on a Summer Weekend
Some time ago I started keeping a Gratitude Journal. My intent was to pay attention to the good things and be happier. I do everything electronically so I installed the Thankful app on my iPhone. There are other apps, or I could have used a note pad or paper journal. Even a matchbook. The medium doesn’t matter. Anything will do! After the first few days … Continue reading Exercising the Gratitude Muscle
This post from February 24 is revised to include an Addendum following my first post-radiation blood test and exam on March 18. The results are very promising as you’ll see at the end here. This afternoon I completed my 45-day regimen of daily external beam radiation treatments for prostate cancer. Amazingly, most of the side effects I was led to expect have never appeared, or … Continue reading My Cancer Journey Post-Radiation: A Happy Ending?
I woke up this morning in a reflective mood — a good mood. As I was journaling this morning a theme emerged. Like most everyone, I think, I have my share of regrets and disappointments: Things in life I wish hadn’t happened. Things I wish had happened. Things I did or said. Things I didn’t do or say. People who hurt me. People who I’ve … Continue reading Life as a Succession of Moments
These are a few personal recollections of my father-in-law, Rodney Lansaw (1922-2008), and some brief highlights of his life story. Rodney was born on January 14, 1922, in Breathitt County, Kentucky. He would have been 100 years old today. I invite and encourage friends and family to share a word or two about Rodney in the Comments below. I started dating David Lansaw 30 years … Continue reading Fond Memories of My Father-In-Law on His 100th Birthday
