Home & Family
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Goodbye to Mom’s house
“No matter how far we’ve come, our parents are always in us.” ~ Brad Meltzer Even after we’ve grown up and moved on, the homes of our parents still hold many of our family artifacts, memories, and stories. After your last parent dies, selling their home — and everything they accumulated — is a difficult part of the grieving process. Yet it can be therapeutic, too. As we begin to empty my mother-in-law’s home, I’m reminded of a column I wrote for The Sunday Oakland Press after reflecting on the memory of selling my mother’s home. You can read it online here. ~CL
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Irish DNA
“We Irish prefer embroideries to plain cloth. To the Irish, memory is a canvas—stretched, primed, and ready for painting on. We love the “story” part of the word “history,” and we love it trimmed out with color and drama, ribbons and bows. Listen to our tunes, observe a Celtic scroll; we always decorate our essence.” ~Frank Delaney I’ve always been a storyteller. And every year on St. Patrick’s Day, I can recall the lyrics to half a dozen old Irish folk tunes. Strangers in shops and restaurants often ask if I’m Irish. In fact, my mother told me that I have “a bit of Irish” in me — but I…
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Look for the helpers
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” ~Fred Rogers As Mister Rogers reminded us, there’s always hope and healing wherever you find the helpers. Late last week, for instance, I had two minor emergencies (one more critical than the other) that sent me in search of medical help. Despite the stress of it all, I was amazed at how quickly two of my doctors were able to see me — almost immediately — when I called their offices for advice. I can’t begin to express…
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“Winter gardening” in The Detroit News
“How many lessons of faith and beauty we would lose if there were no winter in our year.” ~Thomas Wentworth Higginson Today’s edition (Jan. 17) of Homestyle in The Detroit News includes a story about “gardening” in the winter. Design writer Jeanine Matlow interviewed me for the story and included a few of my tips on how to decorate your garden when it’s too cold to plant anything. You’ll recognize a few of my own winter garden photos in the piece. Subscribers can read the feature online or you can purchase a print copy of The Detroit News on the stands today. ~CL
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What we have
“Appreciate what you have, while you have it, or you’ll learn what it meant to you after you lose it.” ~ Frank Sonnenberg My heart is breaking for the people who lost their homes in the Southern California wildfires. I’m in tears whenever I watch a news spot showing devastated families left with nothing but ashes, memories, and the clothes they were wearing when they had to evacuate. I wish I could do more than donate funds to help them.* What would it be like to lose everything — your home, your entire community — in a fire? As today’s quote warns, there’s so much we take for granted until…
