Each day I see another Midwestern icon that brings back memories of my childhood. This morning on my way to mom’s room, I saw a perfectly preserved, 1970s convertible with the top down – mom and dad in the front, two boys in the back. I swear they wore vintage garb. When the stoplight changed I…
Mom cannot get up into my van, so I drive her car, which has a handicapped hang tag. When I schlepp Mom to doctors or the grocery store, I have no qualms about parking in handicapped spots – she has the tag to help her navigate more easily. Now that mom is in rehab, I…
When Grandma Alice was in the apartment I kept busy all day, protecting her. I was a paragon, a perfect 4-legged granny nanny. I slept under her walker and by her bed. I followed her to the bathroom and shower to make sure she stayed safe. One night she got up and headed to the…
Both elderly parents still live in the rehab center. I am camped out in their apartment, and I will confess to enjoying the quietude – nothing but the sound of urban traffic speeding by and the hum of hundreds of air conditioners. It is not the quiet of my little campground near Yellowstone; however, compared…
As children, many of us had imaginary BFFs. As adults, we take the game to a new level with magical thinking. In the broad sense, magical thinking occurs when we believe that our thoughts extend into and/or can change the external world. Praying for rain, for example. I have also seen magical thinking applied to…
Tango and I walked a portion of the Buckeye Trail this morning as it winds through Sand Run Metro Park in the Cuyahoga River Valley (Akron, OH), not far from where Mom lives. Several old, heavily shaded trails and a newer jogging run through the park. Sand Run brings back memories! As kids, we loved to visit…
Each year, Pantone selects a Color of the Year. This year the chosen one: Greenery, Pantone 15-0343. Pantone descirbes Greenery in this way: “A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings. Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew.…
I remember intense, illogical youthful emotions – even a lost sock could send me or a friend into a tizzy. A poor grade in college, an indifferent boyfriend, a disruption in nightly plans, a lost textbook – all major life crises with the power to detonate a mighty, peace-destroying, self-deflating missile. I was never one to…
The end of a long, arduous week! Travel 1850 miles Settle in with mom Cook meals, help with other stuff Adjust to time zone two hours later, which has affected my sleep schedule Adapt to big city driving in a small car: to and from hospital and grocery store Adapt to a different way of…
Akron was the tire capital of the world while I was growing up here. All the big names manufactured tires 24-7, leaving a perpetual tire smell if the wind came from the east. The first companies started up in the late 1800s, right before the auto and tire boom.By 1950, 130 rubber-related companies set…