Featured
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A no-regrets guide to caregiving
“There are only four kinds of people in the world: Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.” ~Rosalyn Carter As our loved ones age — and as we age — caregiving becomes a reality we must face, one way or another. I learned during the first year of my widowed mother’s illness that caregiving duties can take a toll on you, especially if you’re not prepared. Written in retrospect, my “No-regrets Guide to Caregiving” appears this week online in The Oakland Press, and in the September print issue of Vitality. You can read it here.…
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“Writing Your Life” — a personal essay workshop
“We are important and our lives are important, magnificent, really, and their details are worth recording. This is how writers must think, this is how we must sit down with pen in hand. We were here; we are human beings; this is how we lived.” ~Natalie Goldberg *** THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE OFFERED on NOVEMBER 16, 2023. *** I’ve been a huge fan of short personal essays for many years, and eventually made them my specialty after working as a journalist for my local newspapers. What makes a compelling personal essay? And how do you turn your most memorable experiences into marketable stories or an essay collection for your own book?…
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What’s your grandparenting style?
“If I’d known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I’d have had them first.” ~Lois Wyse About three years ago, I was thrilled to add “Grandma” to my resume. But I couldn’t help but wonder: Had my childcare skills gotten rusty? What makes a good grandparent? I understood the fine line between hovering and supporting — and I wasn’t sure how to get it right. After doing a little research, I learned there are five key styles of grandparenting. That’s the topic of my new column in The Oakland Press. To read it online, please click here. Or you’ll find it here in the May issue of Vitality…
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School supplies for Mom
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words for.” ~Georgia O’Keeffe Shopping for brand-new supplies was a favorite back-to-school ritual when my son was a child. Is there anything more fun than browsing through aisles of colorful pens, markers, crayons, and notebooks? Even if you’re an empty nester, you can recapture the fresh thrill of back-to-school shopping — and maybe discover a new craft or hobby of your own. That’s the topic of my new Oakland Press column. You can read it in the Sunday print edition (August 14) or look for it online here.…
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Preparing for the empty nest: An essay about letting go
“It is not what you do for your children; it’s what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.” ~Ann Landers As I post this, a good friend is on the expressway, driving her only daughter to start her first week of college in another state. I’m reminded of an essay I wrote a few weeks later after I settled into my newly emptied nest. The piece was first published in Metro Parent magazine, and later republished in Guideposts. To read it online, click here. Today our son is a married man with a family of his own — yet the topic of launching our kids to adulthood…
