Above: Mom with several of her nine grandchildren Since December of 2021, I’ve been a full-time caregiver for my mom, 87, who suffered a stroke in November 2021. I’ve learned a few things about caregiving — and am still learning — so I thought I’d share some things...
Oh, boy. Please, 2022, be better than (at least the last part of) 2021. I'm looking back over the past month or so and thinking that if I tried to write it as a story, any decent editor would reject it as far too improbable. Here's a (not so) quick timeline: November...
For 40 years, the holidays started for me the week before Thanksgiving. It was a short work week, and I'd start packing on Monday for my one-and-a-half-hour trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas from Memphis. I couldn't wait to get in the car and drive over one of Memphis' two...
It's 2008. Me, to my 16-year-old daughter, broken hearted after the end of a friendship: Sweetheart, I'm so sorry you're hurting. What do you think would make it better? I expected to hear "cookies," or "a sweet tea from McAllister's," or even "a new top." Instead she...
Today we finished what we’re calling Phase Two of our betta fish tank project. We’re not experts, but we managed to get the filter set up, the tank filled, water tested, and decorations added.
We’re setting up a betta fish tank. Come with us as we figure out what we’re doing.
Warning: I'm only a month out from loss and I'm still raw. So this post is pretty unvarnished, and maybe a little angry. That's where I am. Please read with that understanding. You've just lost a loved one. You're in shock, reeling, and numb. Just to put one foot in...
At my age (I'm a proud 57), I and many of my contemporaries are dealing with aging parents. With age comes hearing loss, and, although I haven't practiced audiology (MA in audiology, University of Memphis, 1984) in 22 years*, I do still remember a thing or two about...
I miss him a lot in the summertime. Baseball season. Busch Stadium II. The Bottlecap. Baseball Heaven. The seats were red and they were so hot in July. Yes, St. Louis is north of Arkansas and Tennessee, they get more snow in the winter, but it gets darned scorching...
When you become a parent, you sign up for a life of mixed emotions. You want them to sit up, but you know you'll miss holding them. You want them to walk, but you fear they'll fall and hit their head. You want them to go to school, but it means they will leave you. It...
I'm not a big movie person. There are not many movies I've seen in a theater in the past 10 years, and only a few that I've seen on DVD. Occasionally a film will come along that I think is worth seeing, and 42 is one of my favorites ever. No, not just because it's a...
Just yesterday, I marveled at the fact that I didn’t feel a bit blue this week. The first two weeks in June are always difficult, as the anniversaries of two loved ones lost occur within days of one another; my sister-in-law (killed in a car accident June 9, 1999) and...
Throughout our girls' college years, we moved each of them at least three times. From home to dorm, dorm to apartment, and from apartment back home. Today our oldest, Elizabeth, 25, moved again. This one is for real. In fact, as I write this, she's driving a U-Haul,...
I was sitting at the hair salon with foils in my hair when I picked up my phone and saw the text message from my cousin letting me know that my uncle had passed away early that morning. After I caught my breath, I texted my girls to let them know that the great uncle...
Tuesday, February 19, about 8:45 a.m. Just a bit more than nine months ago. I was about to leave for work when my phone rang. I recognized the number as Jim's old cell number and wondered why on earth he was using it to call me. The answer came when I accepted the...
In happier days — she loved playing with this foam football. She'd bring it to us over and over until we got tired of throwing. One of the worst things about being a grownup is having to do hard things. We did one of those things today. Our beloved 14-year-old...
Daddy and Jim were always talking about camaras. I've noticed for the past week or so that I've felt inexplicably blue. Even though they come around every year, somehow the anniversaries always seems to sneak up on me. In 1993, my dad passed away suddenly on June 13,...
My youngest baby is 21 today. It makes me a little misty eyed, I'm not gonna lie. I tried to resist the motherly instincts last night when she told me she was going out at midnight to buy her first legal drink. Me: Be careful. Are you taking Ethan (longtime...
If we're connected on any social network, you know by now that we lost one of our four dogs on Christmas Day. We're not really sure what happened, but the best guess is that she had an illness we didn't know about and just found a place in my mom's back yard to curl...