Linda Lenzke

Feb 05 2024

Posts

The Last Goodbye

We bid farewell to our father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

“Someday I’m going to write a book about our family!” — This writer as a defiant 16-year-old.

“I look forward to reading it!” — Our beloved mother

First, I haven’t drafted and posted new content for this blog since the end of October. The past three months have been a challenge and an unexpected journey. Though I’ve not written for my blog, I’ve done more writing during this period compared to what is typical. Most of it communication with bio and chosen family, journal entries, and social media posts. Continue reading →

Tagged Blatz Party, Brother, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Elegy for my father, Family, Father, Friends, Funeral, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Internment, Loss, Love, Memorial, Memories, Mother, Obituary, Racine, Stories, Tag Team Sisters, Tribute to my father, Visitation

Oct 26 2023

3 Comments

Posts

The Last Closet Door: Act I

Public Life: Open the Last Closet Door

“All human beings have three lives, a public life, a private life, and a secret life.” Hamill added, “A private life is by invitation only. A secret life is nobody’s business.” — Pete Hamill

“You can’t be what you can’t see.” — Martha Popp

The two quotes above express opposing viewpoints and values. Hamill’s quote speaks to the importance of delineating and protecting our three lives: public, private, and secret. Popp’s quote affirms the importance of being visible and open in the world. Both have served me. Continue reading →

Tagged AIS, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, CAIS, Every Body, Everything in Between, Healing from Shame, Intersex, Intersex Awareness Day, Living Openly, Nonbinary, Open the Closet Door, Overcoming Stigma, Private Life, Public Life, Secret Life

Oct 10 2023

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: It’s Not Over, Till It’s Over!

“It ain’t over, till it’s over!” — Yogi Berra

This past weekend, the weather in the upper Midwest changed dramatically from unseasonably hot temperatures — 20+ degrees above normal — then dropped below normal for early fall. We went from wearing short sleeves and short pants to sweaters and sweats. We turned-off air conditioners, or closed open windows, we turned on the heat or used our fireplaces. Instead of outdoor social activities like dining al fresco, we began moving indoors.

Like the past three-and-a-half years during the pandemic which now can be classified as an endemic, most of us now get vaccinated in the fall. This year in addition to the annual flu shot and pneumococcal vaccine, there’s a new RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) immunization, plus the updated COVID vaccine protecting us from the newest variant. Health experts suggest that moving forward we will receive an annual COVID vaccine like the flu shot. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Endemic, Family, Friends, Holidays, Immunizations, Loss, Pandemic, RSV, Seasons, Things Change, Virus, Winter

Sep 17 2023

Posts

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Meditation definition (Oxford Languages) – a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.

Mortality definition (Oxford Languages) – the state of being subject to death.

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live.” — Joan Baez

As a person of a certain age — living my seventh decade — death and dying are on my mind.

Recently, there have been unexpected deaths of friends and loved ones, plus celebrities and artists in the public sphere, caused by accidents, deadly health crisis, unknown reasons, suicide, or overdose. When we’re unprepared for the sudden news, it’s both shocking and unsettling. For many of us, it’s a reminder of our own mortality. Continue reading →

Tagged 9/11, Celebration of Life, Chosen Family, Death, Death and Dying, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Legacy, Life and Living, Loss, Love, Meditations, Memoir, Memories, Mortality, Mother, Sisters

Jul 25 2023

Posts

Barbenheimer: When Worlds Collide

“Some things have been happening that might be related.” — Quote from the Barbie film.

“Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.” — Quote from the opening of Oppenheimer

The quote from the Barbie movie says it all. Not only do worlds collide in both films of the Barbenheimer movie mashup, some things have been happening that might be related in the real world. This essay is part movie review, history lesson, reminiscence, and commentary on the culture and politics of the past — and more concerning — of current events. Oh, My! “It’s a Barbie World.” Continue reading →

Tagged Atomic Bomb, Barbie, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Cinephile, Cold War, COVID-19, Culture Wars, Feminism, Films, Greta Gerwig, LGBTQ, Margot Robbie, Mattel, Movies, Noah Baumbach, Oppenheimer, Pandemic, Robert Downey Jr, Ryan Gosling, The Bechdel Test, War

Jun 27 2023

1 Comment

Posts

Fractured, Not Broken!

Fractured Definition: having a crack or break: having suffered a fracture

Broken Definition: (of a person) having given up all hope; despairing

Resilient Definition: (of a person) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

On Wednesday, May 17^th, I accidentally fell forward while attending the Opioid, Stimulants, and Trauma Summit sponsored by the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services at the Kalahari Resort and Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells and fractured the humerus of my right, dominant arm. Ouch! Continue reading →

Tagged Accidental Fall, Chosen Family, Family, Finding Our Way, Fractured-Not Broken!, Friends, Funny...Not Funny!, Gratitude, Harm Reduction, Hip Replacement, It Takes a Village, LGBTQ, OutReach Community Center, Pod Squad, Recovery, Resilience

May 12 2023

Posts

I’m a Little Bit OCD

I’m a big fan of our premier local theater group, Forward Theater Co. Every other year they mount a monologue festival, featuring about a dozen original monologues from all over the U.S. This year the theme is Out in This World described as follows from their website:

“They say that traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. FTC’s seventh monologue festival, Out in This World, presents twelve storytellers whose tales will take you on journeys both familiar and unexpected. Whether venturing to faraway places or making discoveries closer to home, this collection of original monologues will transport you. Who knows where the path might lead?” Continue reading →

Tagged Cape Cod, Forward Theater Monologue Festival, Grief, I'm a Little Bit OCD, Inn on Cook Street, Koi Cottage, Loss, Memories, Out in This World, Provincetown, The Lobster Pot, Things Change, Vacation

Apr 26 2023

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Casualties

“Life seems sometimes like nothing more than a series of losses, from beginning to end. That’s the given. How you respond to those losses, what you make of what’s left, that’s the part you have to make up as you go.” ― Katharine Weber

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ― Laozi

This past Saturday night we planned an event, Last Night at the Hotel Bar, a reunion of sorts, a wake, and sendoff, not for a person but for a place, The Brink Lounge in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a gathering for Madison Indie Filmmakers, friends, and supporters. We referred to ourselves as the Barflies. The Brink Lounge was closing permanently on April 30. Continue reading →

Tagged Casualties, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Films, Friends, Grief, Hotel Bar, Loss, Pandemic, Politics, The Brink Lounge, Things Change, Wisconsin Film Festival

Apr 09 2023

Posts

Poop Eggs, Orphan Holidays, Home Alone, & Gratitude

“For me, this holiday is a time for reflection, for renewing a spiritual connection, and for experiencing the hope and promise of the new beginnings of the spring season.” — An excerpt from my journal, Perfectly Flawed.

Leading up to Easter this year, I spent a lot of time reminiscing, rereading journal entries from holidays past and Easter-themed blog musings. Holidays, and the family rituals which we grew up with and the memories that remain, are mile markers of our journey in life. They provide a backdrop of the values and traditions of our ancestry and worship, the foundation of our beliefs. From childhood to adulthood, to this third chapter in my life, holiday traditions and rituals have evolved, some things nostalgically remain the same, others changed as I changed, and as the world changed. Continue reading →

Tagged Bio Family, Childhood Memories, Chosen Family, Death, Easter, Easter Dinner, Family, Family Traditions, Father, Friends, Holidays, Lamb Cake, Memories, Mother, Pandemic, Poop Egg, Spring, The Orphan Holidays, Things Change, Wisconsin Film Festival

Mar 04 2023

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Endemic Edition

“When the physical threat of coronavirus subsides, as it surely will, we must address the impact to our mental health” — Luciana Berger

Endemic Definition: “…a disease or a condition, regularly found and very common among a particular group or in a particular area” — Cambridge Dictionary

Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic and we are the next stage of its evolution as the virus becomes endemic. It’s now living with us, and for some of you, living in you as Long COVID. To the best of my knowledge, I’m a Never COVID, COVID Virgin, or COVID Target. Yes, I’m still vulnerable, however, I’m grateful. It required three years of isolation including, social distancing, healthy practices, sacrificing time with friends and family, avoiding indoor restaurants, stores, and events, many of which gave my life meaning and pleasure. For some of the past three years, I worked remotely, and when in the office, masked. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, COVID-19 Journal Project, Daylight Saving Time, Dispatch from the Hideout, Endemic, Family, Father, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Isolation, Pandemic, Pod Squad, Return to Life, Seasons, Spring Fever, Wisconsin Film Festival

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Author Archives: Linda Lenzke

The Last Goodbye

The Last Closet Door: Act I

Dispatch from the Hideout: It’s Not Over, Till It’s Over!

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Barbenheimer: When Worlds Collide

Fractured, Not Broken!

I’m a Little Bit OCD

Dispatch from the Hideout: Casualties

Poop Eggs, Orphan Holidays, Home Alone, & Gratitude

Dispatch from the Hideout: Endemic Edition