Family

Most women over 60 I talk to love their children deeply and want the best for them. That often means offering help, sometimes financial help, when they’re struggling. After all, what mother doesn’t want her child to feel secure? But what happens when the giving…

Do you remember asking the “Can I play too?” question as a child when there was a game in progress and you wanted to join? I wasn’t much of a sporty girl, so I was usually asking in on jump rope, Red Rover, or tag. Most of the time, the answer was yes, or maybe, wait until…

When my son Richard was six, a trusted uncle molested him, whispering, “This is our secret.” The abuse continued for years. Young children’s brains spend long stretches in theta waves – a dreamy state where adult messages slide in unfiltered, making warnings like “Never tell” burrow deep…

When I held my first newborn, I whispered, “All I want is for you to be happy.” It felt like the most generous wish I could make – no demands about who he should become, no rigid life plan to follow. Just happiness. Decades later, I realized that was a much bigger expectation…

Dealing with complicated pet loss grief is very challenging to a pet lover. Have you ever experienced the loss of a pet that ran away? Did this pet ever come home? Are you suffering from the pain of not knowing what happened to them?

Let’s talk about one of the most common obstacles that stop us from moving on after divorce, especially after a long-term marriage. Fairness. Unfairness. The feeling like we’re ripped off after all the sacrifices we made during our years…

Let’s just say it: This isn’t how you thought it would be. You didn’t imagine your child avoiding your calls. You didn’t picture a strained holiday dinner, or worse, an empty seat. You didn’t expect silence, tension, or unspoken resentments. And yet – here you are…

It’s a well-known fact that I’m a big proponent of “seconds.” All sorts of seconds, from second helpings (that’s where the “big” comes from) to second chances. So preparing for a second honeymoon with my second husband should have been…

A crazy, somewhat sad thing began to happen as my friends reached their post-parenting, pre-retirement years. Many began to build or buy second homes in fun locations with the idea that they’d retire in a destination where adult children and grandchildren would love to visit…

Some years ago, when my mother flew alone across Canada to visit with me, I was desperate to find a way to rekindle our former deep emotional connection. Since she had remarried several years earlier, I felt that I had lost some of our precious bond…