Family

Mental illness. The term itself is intimidating. For me, it brought back shrouded stories from my youth of friends and relatives who suffered the colloquial ‘nervous breakdown.’ Back then I didn’t know what that meant…

Estrangement – what an ugly, harsh-sounding word. Jarring to the ears, in fact. The dictionary definition of estrangement is “to turn away in feeling or affection, make unfriendly or hostile, alienate the affections of.” Estrangements are…

As expected, another casualty of the pandemic is that many couples are finding it challenging to be confined with their significant other without creating many opportunities for conflict. The end result is that the divorce rate in 2020…

Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with large family gatherings. We eat communally prepared feasts, share family stories, and spend hours indoors playing games, working puzzles, and watching televised…

When the pandemic quarantine began in March, I figured I could do anything for two weeks. Then two weeks turned into four and four into eight, and here we are in October looking at a possible resurgence in numbers…

When one of my nieces was just a little thing, maybe 4 or 5 years old, she saw a spoon rack on her grandmother’s wall (my mother-in-law). It is one of those wooden shelves that holds tiny spoons my in-laws had collected…

Soon after my book was published, I attended a community luncheon. Several couples were seated at my table, and we introduced ourselves. After watching me for a few minutes, one wife suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I saw your picture in Sunday’s…

Almost all grandparents realize that their grandchildren benefit when they read to them. However, if you want to really maximize the educational benefit of such an activity, you should READ when you read. And just what is READ?

Recovering after a surgery, the doctor said the best thing I could do was get up and walk. I started walking way back when I quit smoking, mostly to keep the weight off. I enjoyed walking with my buddies in my old…

The pandemic has changed how grandparents and grandchildren relate. Some grandparents found themselves quarantined with their kids. Others found themselves close by but locked out, so to speak. What if there’s tension…