Archive for August 2019
Soon, Sooner, Soonest
Soon, sooner, soonest…but not soon enough! This afternoon, when Dad was on the bed reading, I tried my usual hop up and missed! He and Mom started to laugh, but then stopped so they wouldn’t hurt my feelings. It was absolutely humiliating. My tummy gets bigger every day and they make me stand in front…
Read MoreDeepening The Spirit of Friendship
August fourth is National Friendship Day. Probably most of us don’t even know such a day exists. I didn’t, until I heard about it from a friend last week. Celebrating this particular “holiday” is important, because we don’t often pause to think about how lucky we are to have all sorts of friendships–both near and…
Read MoreMY LIFETIME MAILBOX
It is a late Sunday afternoon, and I find myself musing over a current experience. In my days right now, there are several losses of love, significant losses–the kind that invite pain into my heart. I remember the past even as I experience the present, and know that in the future I will inevitably find…
Read MoreGUILT: THE INEVITABLE EMOTION
My life right now revolves around trying to rescue someone very dear to me. Jeanne is a crack addict and an alcoholic, resisting detox, resisting rehab, resisting the possibility of life. She may very well die and I feel guilty about not doing more to save her. I know all the wisdom about allowing addicts…
Read MoreSTAYING CONNECTED WITH LIFE
under submission Twenty-five years ago, at my college reunion dinner, classmates pulled snapshots of their kids out of their wallets. This year, at my thirty-fifth, it was cell phone photos of their dogs that made the rounds after dessert. In retrospect, I wonder why it is that dogs have now taken over the spots in…
Read MoreCOMING FULL CIRCLE TO LIFE
How did I get through the loss of Gulliver, the dog of my heart, to whom I dedicated Bespotted? How did I put away my grief and return to living and enjoying myself once again? The answer is a simple one: I bred a litter of puppies. Two years after Gulliver’s death, we sent our girl,…
Read MorePUBLICATION PSYCHOSIS AND A PUPPY FIX
Writers keep bizarre schedules: some compose late at night, some early in the morning, some whenever the urge overwhelms them. I am a disciplined early riser–or should I say that my three Dalmatians are early risers who tromp all over me and my blankets until I get up and feed them at 6:45 a.m., just…
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