Author Archives: Linda Lenzke

Dec 08 2014
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Conversations w/My Next Girlfriend: Episode 8

Note: This is eighth in a series of imaginary conversations with my next girlfriend.

Dear Next Girlfriend,

This past weekend I returned to my hometown of Racine, Wisconsin to celebrate the wedding of my niece Jennifer and her spouse Becky. They were married earlier this summer when same sex marriage was legalized in Wisconsin. They’ve been committed, loving partners for 12 years. I wish you could have joined me; it was a wonderful event and for me an affirmation that love is love, especially when families are able to accept, support and love their LGBTQ relatives and welcome their partners unconditionally. I am grateful to be a member of that kind of family. Continue reading →

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Nov 14 2014
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Home for the Holidays

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” — Oscar Wilde, A Woman of of Importance

In less than two weeks I’ll travel home to Racine, Wisconsin for the Thanksgiving holiday along with countless other families and friends all over the country who will travel to celebrate with loved ones.  I also scheduled a few days off of work to use some vacation days before I lose them when my work anniversary arrives the beginning of December. At first I thought I’d have staycation time for myself at home before and after the holiday, to tackle some “to-do if I want to items” and see a couple of film matinees— and then I talked with my parents. Continue reading →

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Nov 01 2014
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Boomer’s Playground

“What can ever equal the memory of being young together?”  ― Michael Stein, In the Age of Love

Perhaps it’s because it’s the day after Halloween and the sight of all those delighted kids in costumes, maybe it’s due to social media and the TBT (Throw Back Thursdays) photos on Facebook. It may also be prompted by friends and family who are amateur historians and family genealogists, or maybe it’s simply because I’m at the age and I’ve become that older person who likes to reminisce about the past. I remember the past as being a simpler time. As a memoir writer I can also edit my stories, edit my past, and remember the glory days. Some days it’s comforting to remember just the good times. Continue reading →

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Oct 19 2014
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Trains: Everything Old Is New Again

The North Shore Electroliner and the Rebirth of Pullman Trains

“Pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again.”

“A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life, to one’s home or homeland, or to one’s family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.” — Definitions of nostalgia

Continue reading →

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Oct 05 2014
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Cohousing at Union Corners

“(Does it worry you to be alone?)

How do I feel by the end of the day?

(Are you sad because you’re on your own?)

No I get by with a little help from my friends”

— The Beatles, With a Little Help from My Friends

First an introduction, besides being the author of this blog, I am a founding member of MESCoH (Madison East Side CoHousing). We are an intentionally-welcoming cohousing community who collaborate to create individual homes with shared common spaces at Union Corners on the eastside of Madison, Wisconsin. Union Corners is a prominent piece of property with a rich history; it is a gateway to the Capitol, the front door to our city in a vibrant, revitalized neighborhood. Continue reading →

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Sep 28 2014
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A Triptych of Films about Family Love

“Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” — David Ogden Stiers

During the past week, I’ve seen three films, Love Is Strange, This Is Where I Leave You, and The Skeleton Twins.  What do a story about gay partners who marry after 40 years together and then lose their income and home, a family sitting Shiva after the death of their father and husband, and twins estranged for ten years who reunite after one of them attempts suicide, all have in common? What is the familiar theme? Quite simply, like David Ogden Stiers quote it’s family and, “…no one gets left behind or forgotten.” Continue reading →

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Sep 13 2014
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Conversations w/My Next Girlfriend: Episode 7

Note: This is seventh in a series of imaginary conversations with my next girlfriend.

Dear Next Girlfriend,

You’ve been on my mind again. Over the Labor Day weekend and the following work week, I took my annual staycation. It’s time off of work during my favorite time of year. Those summer days right before fall and the beginning of the school year. I plan coffee dates or brunch with friends, wander in an art museum and linger in a library, check off things from my “to do only if I want to list,” see a movie matinee or two, write, nap, cook, and practice spontaneity. It is a time for reflection and restoration, and it’s a reminder I’m single. Continue reading →

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Aug 31 2014
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The Impermanence of Life

“Impermanence is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient, or in a constant state of flux.”  ― Source: Wikipedia

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”  ―  Alan Wilson Watts

Though the weather is summer-like with hot, humid days and buggy nights, autumn awaits around the corner as the sun rises later and sets sooner each day. Children return to school, and families reset their routines. It is a wistful, introspective time of year for me, a time to reflect on my life, to look back at where I’ve been and to what’s ahead.  I often make new commitments and sometimes let go of others. Fall is always a time of change, both externally and internally.  Continue reading →

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Aug 16 2014
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Reunions, Anniversaries, and Farewells

Some essays and remembrances are more to difficult to begin. Before the words can touch the page the thoughts and feelings in response to these life events must first be felt, then understood, and finally allowed to flow from one emotion to another, memories skipping time, moving from past to present and back again to another day, another reminiscence, some joyful, some sad, some full of gratitude, a few regrets, what ifs and why nots, mourning, tears and grief, and celebration, lots of celebration. Continue reading →

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Jul 26 2014
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Spreadsheet Wars

Public and Private Battle It Out

During the past 10 days, news outlets and social media were abuzz with stories about Israel and the Palestine militant group, Hamas, battling it out in the Gaza Strip, the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by Russian military or rebel forces over eastern Ukraine with almost 300 innocent lives lost, a Taiwanese TransAsia airliner which crashed on Wednesday, killing 48 and injuring 10, and lastly the story of an Air Algerie jetliner with 116 people aboard that crashed Thursday in a rainstorm over northern Mali in Africa. Continue reading →

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