It has been a tough week. When you sister has early-onset Alzheimer’s and you witness firsthand how it is robbing her of the stuff we all take for granted, it’s hard. How to hold a fork. How to get it to your mouth. How to remember to swallow when drinking. Sis is mostly nonverbal these… Continue reading A Cruel Joke of a Disease
Category: memoir
Don’t Stand Up!
(re-run) It was a long train ride from Lima to Cuzco, or maybe it was from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. At any rate, I was on a train with a bunch of Peruvians and my roommate, Kristy. Trains give me motion sickness, as do boats, cars, planes, swings, and carnival rides. It’s a miracle that… Continue reading Don’t Stand Up!
It’s Never Too Late
Three weeks ago, I made a summer playlist. Does that seem silly? The last day of summer is the day after tomorrow. I included songs with summer in the title, like Hot Fun in the Summertime by Sly and the Family Stone, Summer Breeze by Seals and Croft, Summer in the City by the Lovin’… Continue reading It’s Never Too Late
The Bathroom Post
Nobody talks about it except those red bears on the toilet paper commercial. Everybody poops. Or they at least try to. Older folks often have trouble in this department because the body is less efficient, and everything slows down, especially the digestive system. My days of eating nachos for lunch are over, my friends. French… Continue reading The Bathroom Post
Late-night Loser
(re-run) We decided to meet at Bing Crosby’s. I took a seat at the bar, and asked for water. After all, I’d had two glasses of wine already, waiting for him to get off work at the TV station and to drive all the way to Walnut Creek from Marin County. I listened to the… Continue reading Late-night Loser
My Three-quarter Bike Ride
(re-run) I was the one that suggested the bike ride. My adult children don’t spend enough time outdoors or get enough exercise. They do like to ride the Iron Horse trail, an easy, shady railroad right of way that connects towns up and down the I- 680 corridor. I knew I had them when I… Continue reading My Three-quarter Bike Ride
Pyracantha and the Path to School
(rre-run) When my kids were 14, 11 and 6, we moved into a house that bordered the school district’s property. The middle school sat to the right of our backyard, and the high school sat to the left. Only a chain-length fence and a hedge of Photinia separated its property from ours. I called the… Continue reading Pyracantha and the Path to School
The Logic of Science
When someone I know argued that scientists keep changing their minds about COVID, I had to remind her that they were changing their opinions based on the latest, up-to-date data. “One week they say one thing, and the next week they say something else,” she argued. “That’s because they have new data in front of… Continue reading The Logic of Science
The Sprinkler Man and the Glass Coffee Table
When my two oldest children were 5 and 2, we moved from one house in town to another. We didn’t gain any square footage, but the new house had a huge yard, front and back, and forty trees in a better neighborhood. The house had been vacant for months. The sprinklers weren’t working in the… Continue reading The Sprinkler Man and the Glass Coffee Table
The Darwin Awards
(re-run) The world is insane. A snowstorm is predicted for the East Coast. It’s Mother’s Day weekend. The local news station reported that scientists may take llama antibodies for Covid-19 and give them to humans to see if it would help with immunity. Does that mean the humans might start spitting when they are angry?… Continue reading The Darwin Awards
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 