“As age creeps in we become more of who we’ve always been.” This was my father’s warning before his death. And, as my mother ages, it’s truth is undeniable. Mom’s need has no limits. Her self-care has never started; and, I suspect, her self-respect was lost a long time ago. Tough unconscious pride remains in […]
Like one of Santa’s elves, my typical Christmas is spent driving 100’s of miles in a rent-a-car sleigh filled with presents. Christmas carols are sung from NYC to the Catskill Mountains, then onward to NJ, where I’d land at my sister’s house for Christmas dinner. But when my sister died this year, so did my […]
First of all, good sense lives in your body. Your mind is the messenger. You know how it feels to be unhinged? Your body twitches; your mind haunts. Fear is your emotional guide. You “will” yourself to think positive. But, you “feel” possessed. And, you are. From the inside out, unresolved, misaligned, uncertainty breaks you, […]
Holiday festivities can lose their joyful charge as you lose family members. But when you expand your family’s traditions you can expand your family circle. And, you recharge that joyfulness beyond the limitations you’ve known. Arts & crafts united my family at the holidays. Crafting unique ornaments each year became a loving competition between my […]
There are times that we choose pain and times that pain chooses us. When we’re chosen, it’s easy to feel victimized, and we are. But to heal, I believe, one needs to find the gift within the pain. Being open to pain’s healing is like having a gift that keeps on giving. I was recently […]
As I embark on a second tattoo I am often asked, “Why would you put yourself through so much pain?” As I listen for my answer, I’m flooded with various images of painful activities that I’ve chosen to endure. I retort with, “Pain is temporary, but the ‘result’ is forever.” So what is the ‘result’ […]
Five-days beaching with Anthony at the Jersey Shore led us to rings of engagement. Two floating rings—a silver ring for friendship; a gold ring for love—now hang from our ears. We’re engaged in a 1614 Corinthian quote, “All that we do be done in (friendship and) love.” The playful division of an earring pair on […]
My sister’s last days, once released from the COVID ward, was in an induced coma on a respirator. We all wondered if she could hear us talking at her bedside? And, I for one, continue to wonder if she can hear now that she’s dead? On the welcome table of my sister’s thrift shop, now […]
When my only sister and sibling died this year, I mourned the comfort of sisterhood. This ending of sisterly familiarity, understanding and inclusion gave rise to a new kind of sisterhood. Feminine UNITY, VISION, and BEAUTY. When death creates an opening, a blank canvas replaces it inviting new life. In the past month a cocoon […]
COVID split my heart in half when my sister died of it 3-months ago. It felt as if I couldn’t hold my heart together. But 1-year ago today, my heart was also cracked open, allowing love to flow into it so freely and fully. It felt then as well that I couldn’t hold it together. […]