Helen Hudson
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SUNYASHNIKIIS
In 1880, when my great grandmother was born, life expectancy was 40. A Chicago ordinance banned people who were, “diseased, maimed, mutilated, deformed, unsightly or disgusting.” If you were deemed too ugly to be in public, you had to pay a fine of $1 to $50 or go to the poorhouse. Women didn’t have the right to… Read more
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CAST THE FIRST STONE
The closer I get to death, the more I want to live. It’s as if I know there are a certain number of miles left on my feet so I MUST keep moving them in hopes of squeezing in even more. I dance down the aisles of the supermarket. Sing at full volume with the radio. Breathe in every… Read more
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AN IMPATIENT PATIENT
I’d love to meet the brilliant idiot who first called a doctor’s client a ‘patient,’ because that’s the last thing I am. Can you remember the last time your doctor was actually ON TIME? I can’t. This has nothing to do with the pandemic and everything to do with the endemic, habitual tardiness among those… Read more
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WATER WATER EVERYWHERE?
As a child, I was lucky to have a very, disciplined stepfather. He was in the military and commandeered the four of us children as meticulously as he shined his shoes. He even timed our showers with a stopwatch. He firmly believed that one could soap up and rinse in under three minutes and he was right. It… Read more
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Roots and Wings and Pretty Things
P. S. Check out Peter Alsop’s song: “Roots & Wings!” https://youtu.be/LodtoW3WQUY Read more
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MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE
Homeless people have been around since I was a young girl in the 60’s wandering the streets of New York City. Back then, they were few and far between, sitting quietly beside a sign that read, “Spare change?” Now, they are up front and very center across America. On any given night, half a million people are… Read more
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SHAME ON ME
Just when I think I’m at a stage of life where things are straightforward and clear, I get a curve ball. I’m doing a quick shop at Trader Joe’s. As I enter the produce section, there is a man fondling the bananas. Yes, fondling. He eventually pulls off only one. I’m intrigued. His clothes are ill fitting and shabby and the… Read more
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LIGHTEN UP
There is perhaps no more mournful place in American than the local gym. Where else can you see a sea of grimacing, grunting faces in various heave-ho positions? It could be all the mirrors. I’d be depressed if I stared at nothing but myself, too. When folks aren’t staring at their anatomy they are deeply involved with their cell… Read more
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USE YOUR WORDS!
OMG! Hasn’t life been SO much simpler since we reduced words to three letters? I checked the AQI this morning and decided not to go outside. Since I don’t take PED’s, I had to do something so headed to the GYM. (My acronym for Get Yourself Moving) FYI, more people stare at their phones there than exercise. So, while they’re… Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 