Family

When my husband and I were traveling in Germany several years ago, we had the most delightful driver who brought us to the airport. We started with polite conversation, as one does, and soon discovered we had quite a bit in common…

Releasing your kids to adulthood is a mixed blessing. You are both proud and saddened. They are embracing maturity and that’s a good thing! But your home will change after they leave, and that can be a confusing prospect. Now is the time to prepare yourself for these…

A few years ago, I decided to interview my mother about her relationship with my deceased dad. Enough time had passed, we shared more funny stories than sad ones. Since we lived 2,000 miles apart, we scheduled an hour most Sunday mornings…

I watched my in-laws’ tidy bedroom closets fill with suitcases and clothes after each of their parents died. Add to this the odd table, chairs, hutches, and antique Victrola that migrated to the basement family room, which transformed into a maze…

As a parent over 60, you may have thought your relationship with your adult children was solid and unbreakable. However, estrangement can happen to anyone, regardless of age or circumstances. If you find yourself estranged…

Many of us whose children have entered their 30s are still waiting to become grandparents. We understand that our kids have every right to make their own decisions about when and whether to become parents. If they never want to have children…

My neighbor, Heidi, recently told me, “I’ve forgiven my mother, but I won’t go to her funeral.” My friend Lynne has not communicated with her mother in 30 years. She occasionally trolls for a death certificate because, as the only child, there might be something…

I am not a good bed partner. Well, maybe I should say that I have never been a good sleeping partner. I need full and absolute possession of the bed. I move, I squirm, I sigh and sometimes, I am told, I even snore. I dream a lot. I wake up early and often during the…

What do you do if you want to write a tribute legacy letter to your parent, but he or she is not the perfect parent? After all, do parents like June and Ward Cleaver, the parents of Beaver and Wally from the TV show, Leave it to Beaver, even exist? Perhaps, but I certainly never even met anyone like them!

Things don’t always turn out as expected. More often than not, I think, the expectations were probably too optimistic in the first place and the surprise is an unwelcome one. This is a lovely story of the reverse…