Day 3: surviving our new reality

I started writing this on Day 2. New ideas come up and I tweak the post. I realize I work at a school and so bad words are now ****. It’s so very stupid but nothing about this week makes sense to me. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross needs to come back from the grave and give us the five stages of post-election insanity. Recovery must include puppies. Anyhow, here’s what I have today: If you’re a Facebook friend of mine, you know that for me, the hardest part of Tuesday night was being a parent. I felt … [Read more...]

Imagine if you will (for those inclined to vote for Trump)

Remember, no less than the fate of our Republic is at stake.

Regarding Trump, I can’t imagine anything has been left unsaid but still I feel it necessary to say something. No less than the fate of our Republic is at stake. And no, I’m not kidding. - Imagine your ten-year-old son asks: “Did you see the video of Trump making fun of the guy with the funny arm?” “Yes,” you answer. “Mom said you were voting for him?” “I am.” “Why? He made fun of that guy. That’s so mean.” “Because, um, he’s going to make this country great again. And I always … [Read more...]

My silver linings playbook

C'mon, It's just a drawing.

Five minutes ago, I wrote about Goldie—off to high school. This fall, she’s applying to college and will be out of the house next August. Picture me now, lying on my stomach, pounding my fists and feet into the carpet. It appears I’m exercising; I’m actually falling apart. Too much? Over the top? Maybe. But understand I’ve struggled to define life’s purpose, as I know many of us do and have, and motherhood provided answers—immediate, well-defined, profound. Yes, Goldie will still need me from … [Read more...]

Goodnight Big Red Barn

red barn pic

We said goodbye to my childhood home this week. Please excuse me while I grab some tissue. In 1966, I was barely four when we moved in, after a brief stint in Tarzana, and New Jersey before that. The man on the Mayflower truck handed me a couch cushion to bring inside “the barn” that morning. My two sisters and I settled into the large bedroom upstairs next to the master, with two walk-in closets and its own bathroom, including an odd-shaped tub and a wall heater where we burned many a naked … [Read more...]

San Bernardino, and bird by bird

san bernardino copy

I’m a news junkie. After 9/11, even while cradling baby Bun Bun in my arms, I watched and read the news relentlessly. After Paris two weeks ago, the same. I kept wanting to write something, but everywhere - newspapers and blogs, Twitter and Facebook - each notion and opinion of mine was covered except, I thought, the one I couldn’t share, the idea I didn’t want to speak out loud. If I give it a voice, it might happen. I don’t want to scare my kids.  And then today, the New York Times printed … [Read more...]

Tuesday talk: on being Christian…

starbucks red coffee cups copy

…Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, or human. Growing up, in Catholic school and out, the good nuns and priests, the lay teachers and my parents, taught me three things (not one of which was how to tie my shoelaces properly): Do unto others God = love To thine ownself be true The first two are biblical, the last Shakespearean. Specifically growing up Christian, we were taught that the basics of morality derived from Christ and his teachings. I got the sense from my parents that this … [Read more...]