Helen Hudson
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FILL-IN-THE-BLANKS THIS CHRISTMAS
Right now, this page is as blank as my cupboards are bare of gifts this year. I just read, “Breaking News” from the New York Times, which says that “Spending is down for November which indicates a gloomy forecast for 2012.” Part of me feels guilty for this downturn, for I have not spent a… Read more
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IT TAKES A LOT OF NERVE
It takes a lot of nerve to steal from someone but it takes even more to give what you’ve stolen back. Both scenarios occurred to an 83 year-old friend of mine yesterday. She arrived at the pool as she has, “for the last 40 years,” with her purse stuffed inside of her gym bag. She… Read more
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PUT ON THE HAT
A half, bent over, old man was moving very slowly in front of me as I walked to the gym this morning. Every, single step he took was arduous, deliberate and pained me to watch. Even though my own step these days lacks some of its’ old spunk, I slowed my pace. He was working… Read more
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YOU GO GIRL!!
It started harmlessly enough. I was trudging in to Target when suddenly I heard the thump-thump beat of some pounding rap music. Approaching slowly, was a well-used, Chevy with two teenage girls in front. (It’s a good thing they had the windows rolled down or they might have gone deaf). By the time we were… Read more
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CARRY ON
She looks absolutely pitiful; a shadow of the fluffy pup who only yesterday sprung up to her window seat to watch the cars go by. The vet sent Skylar home today after double knee surgery. A stiff, plastic Edwardian collar keeps her from licking the long, red-stitched wounds open. Her tail no longer arches up… Read more
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TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING
Everywhere you go nowadays you see ‘kids’ taking care of their elderly parents. That wasn’t the case when I wrote, “Kissing Tomatoes,” 10 years ago. At the time, publishers said, “Love the writing but no one will buy it. Who cares about Alzheimer’s?” Well, time changes everything. Just today, the woman in front of me… Read more
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in
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LOOK AROUND
Know why I like old people so much? They look like themSELVES. There’s no airbrushing. What you see is who they ARE. The beauty of age is that time has written in everything exactly as you lived it, line by line. If you were a joyful person, your face will be etched in tiny, smile… Read more
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CLEAN YOUR ROOM!
A friend came by to see our new house last week Nothing really ‘new’ about this 50’s ranch but I welcomed the chance to show it off. She marveled at the view from all the windows of the grand trees which surround us and we giggled at the constant creaking of the floors. As she… Read more
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GET A LIFE!!!
When my oldest first said these three words to me I really was speechless. Then I laughed. After I wiped the incredulous look off my face I just stared into her then 16 year-old eyes and said: “I have one but unfortunately for you, you’re a BIG part of it.” Now if you have teenagers… Read more
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SHHH!! DON’T TELL!!
While rinsing the chlorine off this morning in the YMCA shower, a gaggle of giggling little girls squeezed altogether in the open stall next to me. Although several others were open, they chose to rinse off together. Like spies on a secret mission, they peeked out from behind their vinyl curtain as if to be… Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 