Family

I should have known my boys were nature smart long before I had a name for it. When they were little, our house looked a lot like the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Their pockets were never empty. Rocks. Sticks. Acorns. Milkweed pods. Feathers. Pinecones. Eggshells. Seeds…

I recently found myself as the “loving” companion to my brother and husband for two separate medical procedures. I’m happy to say there has been a long hiatus for this kind of caretaking, because the first episode, about five years ago, was quite an eye opener. At that time, I was more focused on surviving the quirky US healthcare system and locating the best offerings in my local area…

When Leo arrived at my house, he wasn’t supposed to stay. He was a foster kitten. The plan was simple: to give him a safe place to land, help him get settled, and eventually find him a permanent home. Leo had other plans. From the beginning, he carried himslef with an unusual degree of confidence…

There once was a clan of the Flibberty Flocks, Who polished their smiles and synchronized clocks. They ironed their curtains, they color-matched stew, And claimed that perfection was simply “what’s due.”

It’s his life, not yours… Thattechnically true sentence is kind of useless emotionally. Parents of unhappy adults live with a silent grief and unlike in other distressing situations, there are no rituals or support for the heartbreak of watching an adult child struggle. Even though it remains difficult as well, we’re not talking here about an adult who’s going through a rough patch, a breakup, a job loss, a burnout…

If you’re over 60 and finding yourself grieving a relationship with your adult child that technically hasn’t ended – no fight, no falling out, just… distance – you are far from alone, and there’s a reason this particular grief is so disorienting. Most griefs we’re taught to recognize have a clear beginning: a death, a diagnosis, a divorce papers signed. This one doesn’t…

Parents know (or hope) the day will come when they look at their children and realize they’ve become self-sufficient adults. Not just legally adults, but functioning adults. The kind who pay their own bills, solve their own problems, make their own appointments, and call home because they want to – not because they need something or someone to rescue them…

Do you have a happy marriage? Over years as a relationship coach and counsellor, I am sharing my experience to help you bring your marriage back to what you dreamed it would be when you first met. I will offer some very practical…

I am eager to create a season that will fill my heart and head with pleasant memories that reflect these long, lovely days. For me, the best way to do that is to reach out to friends, neighbors and family and share summer time with them. Here are some of the things that I like to do…

A table of women laughing before the senior center program. A group photo from the church retreat. Smiling faces in the park district newsletter after Bunco night. It’s easy to look at moments like these and conclude that everyone else has found the friendships you’ve been searching for. Those moments are real. But they’re only one expression of friendship…