Where I'm published
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Revisiting Walden
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden Henry David Thoreau’s Walden tops my list of life-changing literature. It didn’t grab me the first time around. But after reading it a second time — when I was ready for it — I understood everything Thoreau was trying to tell me. Not only was I inspired to learn more about this eccentric man who revered nature and treasured solitude; I was also challenged to keep moving “in the direction of my dreams” — even when…
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How to manage holiday grief and loss
“The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; the secret anniversaries of the heart.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The winter holidays are in full swing. But if you’re grieving a loss, the festivities only amplify your pain and shine a light on the empty chair or chairs around your table. My column today in The Sunday Oakland Press offers tips on how to get through the holiday when you don’t feel like celebrating. I invited several therapists and grief counselors to share advice for everyone who’s mourning a loss this season. The column — “Empty Chairs at Christmas” — runs in the Homefront section…
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Catch up with me in the Sunday paper
My columns and features appear often in The Oakland Press and several other daily newspapers in the MediaNews Group. My columns typically run on Sundays in the Homefront section — in the print editions and online — and periodically in the “Vitality” magazine supplement. You’ll find an archive of my previous columns and feature stories online here.
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Writing Home: My annual shameless plug
“A book has no unwanted calories and you don’t have to worry about sizes as long as the subject matter appeals to the recipient.” ~Sue Grafton If there’s a reader on your gift list, I’d be honored if you’d consider my essay collection ($16.95) this Christmas. The 93 previously published pieces in Writing Home first appeared in a variety of national magazines and newspapers, including Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, Reader’s Digest, Country Gardens, and The Christian Science Monitor. These essays were written during the years I worked from home while raising my son. The late Detroit News columnist, George Cantor, wrote about the book after spending a day visiting my favorite hometown haunts with…
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When it’s time to let go
“The art of letting go of your child must come in stages. We grow with them as parents, but our hearts are never truly ready for them to leave the nest.” ~Jennifer L. Betts Reclaiming and repurposing my son’s childhood bedroom happened “in stages” — long after he left home. For a while it remained unchanged, a memorial to the past. I wrote about the process in a reflective essay that touches on the importance of letting go of our earlier parenting roles and embracing the future. The essay appears in the October 2022 issue of Vitality magazine (in The Oakland Press), which will be available in print next Thursday.…
