Family

The funny thing about being a full-time artist is that you think everyone else is creating art too. At least planning to anyway. Fortunately, there are responsible people doing the jobs that we artists try to avoid…

It was a week when my ex-spouse was out of town. I was on a mission. I went through every file I could find in the house and made copies of statements, receipts, account documentation, everything I could find. Even though I didn’t actually file for divorce until almost a year later, sorting through the paper mound I heaped…

Hanging out with your grandkids is great for your mental and emotional health. But the question for many grandparents is, what activities can I do with them? It can be difficult to keep up with the energy of young children…

Many years ago, a little Papillon named Coco came into my life. She was six months old and had been left at a backyard breeder. At the time, I didn’t even know what a Papillon was. “What’s a Papillon?” I asked. I was told to go to the library and look it up. Yes, this was before the Internet! Coco weighted a whopping 3.5 pounds, including…

Does it start with a spark? Does it stop? Does it end? Is it tied with a ribbon and handed away, Or alive in each breath of an ordinary day? It says, “You may be you, in time and in space.” It makes room for each viewpoint, voice, and face…

There comes a time in life when you have to stop walking down a one-way street. It took me a long time to understand that. I’m in my 80s now, and I’ve outlived every close friend I ever had. I’m not talking about acquaintances or people I knew casually. I’m talking about the friends you could call at two in the morning. The people you laughed with, worked with…

I spent so much time and effort getting to the other side of divorce that I didn’t think about how the experience changed me. I am different. My life is different. I asked myself the question, “Who am I now?” Finding myself ready to embark on a life where some of my roles and identity had changed…

The other morning, Buddy stood up from his bed, stretched, and let out a little grunt. A moment later, I stood up from my chair and made exactly the same sound. We looked at each other. Neither of us mentioned it. Buddy is my old black Lab, and apparently somewhere along the way we have reached the stage of life where neither one of us gets up without announcing it…

Old Grumble McMutter met Miss Fussy McFrown, Who polished each pebble and straightened each town. He huffed at her humming. She frowned at his shoes. They argued on Tuesdays… and most Wednesdays, too…

If setting a boundary with your adult child feels harder now than it did decades ago, you’re not imagining it. Boundaries at this stage of life come with a particular weight that they didn’t carry when your children were young. Logic might suggest boundaries get easier as you get older – more confidence, more life experience, less need for others’ approval. In practice, many women find the opposite…