Holiday Letter from me This year did not start auspiciously for me. My younger brother died suddenly but peacefully in January in Michigan without spouse or children or last will and testament. So, the probate court appointed me the personal representative of his estate. My…
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On Volunteering
In 2020, after businesses shut down due to the COVID19 pandemic, I volunteered full time at a beautiful bookstore run by the Episcopal Cathedral and managed by a well-organized and positive young woman. Because many people were concerned about contracting the virus, I spent a…
All Bent Out of Shape
This week a vehicle ran over one of my Roughneck garbage cans that was at the curb and flattened it. I thought it was a goner but I tipped it on its side and stood on the dents and pushed them out. I am more…
Traveling Thoughts
When I was living in Detroit and was in grade school, my family took road trips in the summer in cars without air conditioning. Three children in the back seat and parents in the front seat with no seatbelts. Up to Maine and Massachusetts and…
Therapy & Self-preservation
When I worked at the University of Michigan Medical Center, I dated a medical resident who spent some time working in the emergency room. I clearly recall a time when he came home in disbelief that a “good-looking young guy tried to commit suicide. I…
My cats complain, but at least they’re not an old man complaining
When I was in high school, the school held a two-day series of talks by people from various walks of life. The mother of someone I went to grade school with talked about marriage. I don’t remember what she talked about. I just know that…
Critical Mass Reached; Meltdown Imminent
I don’t know how to leave people or jobs or anything. I reach a breaking point (circuit overload) and blow a fuse and leave. I am learning to set boundaries and negotiate before I blow a fuse. I get tired of taking care of other…
Fixer-Uppers & Problem Solvers
Anne Lamott said it best when she talked about always meeting people who needed fixing up. My gift for problem solving seemingly made me a magnet for men who wanted someone to fix them. And the people who didn’t need fixing saw me as the…
The pursuit of happiness interests
One day, a couple in their 70s came into a store where I worked and kindly bickered with each other over the wife buying a $5 watch. They were cute and I told them so. When the wife had left the store, the husband came…
Human beings communicate by accident
Human beings communicate by accident; The number of people who take offense at what they think they heard is greater than the number of people who intentionally try to offend someone.