From the monthly archives: May 2011
What a great birthday! We started celebrating on Friday and now (Sunday) I still have homemade cake to look forward to! Yesterday morning Louise and I headed up to Sisters, a 3½ hour drive from Portland. Friends of ours bought a place there a few months ago and they invited us and another couple for […]
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It’s my birthday! I wanted to make sure to give a gift in honor of my Mom. And the miracle of circumstance that brought me into this world. I am grateful to be here. Birthdays aren’t so simple, though. It’s usually a time of semi-morbid self-reflection. And – although I am not a big fan […]
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I told my story to about 100 Kaiser Permanente retirees today; it was lovely. They were a very attentive and thoughtful audience and had lots of great questions. Am I ever afraid? How do I choose? How do I start talking to a stranger? What will I do after 100 hundreds in 2011? Why a […]
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Guess who’s feeling better? Patches, that’s who! I pretty much thought she was a goner but she is just about back to her old self. We figure something must have gotten ahold of her outside and given her a good shaking or something, as she didn’t have a mark on her but was painful to […]
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The cheapskate in me is not going down easy and that’s a fact. Today I was just pleased as punch because I found a new place to park my car that’s about half a dozen blocks from work. $2 for all-day parking! I’ve been riding the bus whenever I can, but sometimes I travel between […]
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When I headed to bed shortly before midnight last night, I never expected that I would be starting the new day in the emergency pet hospital. On the way up I said goodnight to Patches, the calico who has called our place home for the last five years since we took her in as a […]
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We had a short ceremony today and “unveiled” the headstone marking my mother’s grave. By Jewish tradition, the one-year anniversary of the death of a parent marks the end of a period of deep mourning. It’s just regular old mourning from here on out: the ups and downs of memory and loss. We Jews generally […]
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If you’re not ready to believe in miracles, stop reading right now. The prelude to Mother’s Day was a bit rocky. It’s the first Mother’s Day since my mom died last May and I’ve been feeling the renewed weight of loss and sadness. I wasn’t sure I could find a celebratory mood. When I got […]
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He was standing in the same spot I met these guys on October 15. Tall and skinny, he had a hat turned up on the ground in front of him and was picking away fast on a tiny little worn down guitar. A brindle dog was curled up right next to him. The guy’s playing […]
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At least for today, spring has sprung in the Pacific Northwest. What a beauty! Along with most everyone else in town, I spent a good chunk of the day outside. I got some vegetables planted and played with worms. When I was ready to quit, I suggested to Louise that we take a walk to the […]
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