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Jul 04 2020

Posts

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

Today is the 4th of July, the Independence Day Holiday. Yesterday, I began reflecting on the meaning of the day, which celebrates the independence of a nation following a revolution and the freedom of its people from an oppressive government. Of dire concern — we are living through what may be judged as another oppressive government — our own — as our elected leaders dismantle democracy and favor the corporate aristocracy and dominant white culture. We are not truly free and independent until we are all free and equal under the law. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Blogging, Childhood Memories, COVID-19, Family, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journals, Memoir, Memories, Parades, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Reminiscence, Safer-at-Home, Solitary Life, The Orphan Holidays, Wisconsin

Oct 21 2018

1 Comment

Posts

Holding On & Letting Go

“Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” — Rumi

Holding on and letting go is one of the subjects I keep coming back to, a thread in many of my essays and remembrances. It’s an essential element in the cycle of life, a theme in many of my memories, a lesson to be learned and practiced as needed, and today again, present in my journey.

This is not unique to me. It’s a universal truth; it’s what makes us human, mortal, and sentient beings. Holding on and letting go is one of the first things we learn as an infant, one of the first things we teach as a parent, one of the most difficult emotions we experience at the beginning and at the end of our lives, and the lives of loved ones, as we examine who and what we need to let go of and who and what we need to hold onto. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Future, Grief, Holding On, Home, Impermanence, Letting Go, Loss, Love, Memories, Mother, Past, Present, Sisters

Oct 05 2018

1 Comment

Posts

You Can’t Go Home Again

Hat Tip to Thomas Wolfe

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood…back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time…” — Thomas Wolfe

First, let me go on record that as a memoir writer and someone who writes about family, relationships, and the mundane moments of everyday life — you can return home by remembering. I’ve learned though as a reminiscence writer that memory is malleable and can play tricks on you, sometimes sanding off the rough edges of some memories, while sharpening others. The nation has witnessed this phenomenon the past couple of weeks during the Supreme Court Justice nomination hearings. Continue reading →

Tagged 1968, Body, Brother, Death, Family, Father, Grief, High School Reunion, Home, Loss, Mind, Mother, Racine, Sisters, Spirit, Tag Team Sisters

Jul 22 2017

Posts

Ethel Mae’s Garden: A Mother’s Legacy

Grief and gratitude, hand in hand

The past few months have marked a series of family anniversaries, holidays, birthdays, and celebrations. There were parties, gatherings, and projects that brought us together. We affirmed our bonds with each other — across generations — in our laughter, our stories, family traditions, and shared experiences — the nature and nurture that created our family. The person at the center — the heart of our family — was our father’s wife and soulmate, his best friend — our mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Ethel Mae. We are all flowers in her garden. Continue reading →

Tagged Children, Ethel Mae's Garden, Family, Father, Flowers, Garden, Grandchildren, Gratitude, Great Grandchildren, Grief, Home, Legacy, Love, Memories, Mother, Planting Flowers, Sisters

Jun 06 2015

1 Comment

Posts

The Tale of Two Quilts

“What goes around comes around.” — The basic definition of how karma, the law of cause and effect, works.

“And in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take.” — Lyrics from the Beatles song, The End, composed by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon-McCartney. It was the last song recorded collectively by all four Beatles from the album, Abbey Road.

This is a tale of two quilts, two long-term relationships, two sisters and two lessons about karma. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Activism, Catholic, Death, Eighties, Existentialism, Family, Feminism, Higher Power, Karma, Loss, Love, Marriage, Memoir, Quilts, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Seventies, Sisters, Sixties

Nov 01 2014

Posts

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 →

Tagged Baby Boomers, Family, Friends, Glory Days, Home, Memoir, Memories, Personal Narratives, Racine, Reminiscence, Sisters, Sixties, The fifties, Wisconsin

Nov 09 2024

On Writing & Storytelling

“Sometimes we become what we do. I became a writer by writing.”— From Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been drafting content and designing a PowerPoint presentation, a Community of Practice Webinar for Wisconsin Certified Peer Specialists (WICPS). I’m a WICPS in the work I do as an LGBTQ+ AODA Advocate for the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center. The subject of my webinar, which I’ll present later this week is, Building Peer Trust by Sharing Lived Experience. Continue reading →

Tagged Blogging, Family, Father, Grief, Legacy, Madison, Memoir, Memories, Mother, Oral History, Personal Narratives, Racine, Recovery, Stories, Storytelling, Things Change, Writing

Sep 27 2024

2 Comments

Posts

Things Change

“There is nothing permanent except change.” — Heraclitus

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

As a person of a certain age — my favorite euphemism for old —change is an undeniable truth of life. As I write, it’s the eve of autumn, the changing of the seasons, and the day before a memorial service for a coworker, confidant, and friend. Things Change has also been the theme of this year, and the title of my 17th annual journal, which begin in September. It’s also the final chapter of my life — no longer a dress rehearsal — yet an opportunity “To change the things I can” and leave a legacy behind, the measure of my life. Continue reading →

Tagged Culture, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Health, Holidays, Home, Loss, Love, Madison, Mother, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Technology, Things Change, Work

May 12 2024

3 Comments

Posts

The Third Place Project

In Search of a Home Away from Home & Work

“Your third place should come with a sense of ease and offer respite from the world without removing you from it altogether.” — Emily McGowan

As I write, tomorrow is Monday and I return to work. I’m grateful. In my 7^th decade, I’m living an engaging, meaningful, and satisfying balanced life. I work half-time, Mondays-Thursdays, doing work that is a passion rather than a vocation. Work provides an opportunity to give back to my community at the same time it supports me financially, emotionally, and spiritually. Work is my ‘second place.’ Continue reading →

Tagged Ancora Maple Bluff, Apple Island, Chocolaterian, First Place, Hotel Washington, Lakeside St. Coffeehouse, Linden Cohousing, Lysistrata, Northstreet, Ray Oldenburg, Second Place, Sundance 608, The Great Good Place, Third Place

Apr 14 2024

Posts

AI, “Be afraid, be very afraid.”

A Boomer’s Take on Artificial Intelligence

First, let me start by stating — like most of my generation — I’m a late adopter to technology. Instead of A.I. as a study aid, we had Cliff & Spark Notes. In place of social media, like Instagram and Tik Tok, we passed around notebooks in school so our friends could respond with some snarky comment or gossip. For most of us, we thought algorithms had something to do with algebra and slide rules and we wanted nothing to do with them. The tools we used most to communicate and create were in-person conversations with each other, word play, and childhood games. Continue reading →

Tagged AI, Artificial Intelligence, Books, Cinephile, Dystopian future, Existential Threat, Films, Late Adopter, Machine Learning, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction, Technology

Mixed Metaphors

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

Matches for: “First Friend” …

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

Holding On & Letting Go

You Can’t Go Home Again

Ethel Mae’s Garden: A Mother’s Legacy

The Tale of Two Quilts

Boomer’s Playground

On Writing & Storytelling

Things Change

The Third Place Project

AI, “Be afraid, be very afraid.”