Model Trains…one piece at a time.

My husband retired last Friday and I am worried. While I celebrate his freedom from a job of which he was truly tired, I am also concerned about what he will now do with his time, as well as the loss of his income. How will the family budget survive? How will he survive psychologically? …

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The Gift of a Son’s Sobriety

For the last ten years, I have been steeped in sadness–and without hope–for my older son, who is a heroin addict. Last year, he overdosed four times on Fentanyl and went into cardiac arrest, barely being resuscitated in the emergency room after his heart ceased to beat. Still, even these close calls did not stop…

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The Bounty Of Family

What a joyous holiday our family had this Thanksgiving just past–four full days of wonder. Here is my little grandson, who sat at Nana’s holiday table for the first time, built trucks and trains and Duplo houses with me, went hand-in-hand to the playground, and drifted off to his parents singing my childhood lullaby. And now onward, into…

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More Than Pumpkin Pie

The words of the following two people have resounded throughout the years, and these quotations seem particularly appropriate at this time of thanksgiving–when we should be mindful of more than pumpkin pie. May you mull them over now, and next week, as you join hands around the table with your family and friends. Have a…

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Rolling With The Wrinkles

Hey there, it’s Halloween! Pumpkins and skeletons and spider webs on the stoop. Candy bars and Smarties in a big bowl. Tricks and treats and pranks. Little kids greet this day with anticipation, much laughter, and a genuine sense of celebration. I enjoy answering the door to see their carefully constructed costumes, especially those that…

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Illumination from Blackwater Woods

Here is my favorite poem of all time–particularly apt at this time of year, as autumn takes over our world. It uses an incredible metaphor that speaks to living your life with authenticity. God bless you, Mary Oliver. Yours,

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Autumn’s Light

Autumn came bright and early that year. My toddler and I wandered down the sidewalk over a carpet of leaves, one that created a riot of color crackling under our feet. I held his hand as he balanced himself, precariously, on a low stone wall. Periodically pain streaked, low and mean, through my belly. For…

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A Chink In The Armor

Hope seemed out of the question. As we returned home from Long Island, where we had celebrated my grandson’s first birthday, we were mired in non-stop traffic when my cell phone rang. The call was from the dog sitter. While vying for a tennis ball thrown up high, Mac and Cody had collided mid-air, and…

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Bask In The Glow Of A Good Book This Summer

As we come into the month of July and many of us take off for vacation, there is nothing better to slip into your suitcase–or to download onto your Kindle–than an attention-grabbing book. I’ve recently read three that captivated and moved me, and I thought I would pass them along with a brief synopsis. Anyone…

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Walking A New Road

Naturally enough, every year when Father’s Day comes around, I am reminded of my Dad. He belonged to a generation of men who smoked in the hospital waiting room while their wives delivered babies by themselves, men who would never change a diaper or be a Girl Scout Cookie Mom. How different my father was.…

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