Inspiration
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A DAY FOR MOTHERS–A LIFETIME OF MOTHERING
“Many days have passed and those heads now tower over a space too small for their size. . .the nest has shifted several inches to the right and looks shabby. . .Displaced twigs and deebris have fallen to the ground underneath. Feathers and dung are splashed and stuck to the sides. There is nowhere for… Read more
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NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
“We will likely not even be here when our girls reach the age we are now. I have done the math. So I have to hope that the world they are aging into will one day embrace the wrinkles, the mottled skin and the dementias. For it does not now, and the gap between our… Read more
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OLD FOLKS & ARTICHOKES
“When Granny first taught me how to eat an artichoke, I was perturbed that I had to go through all those layers of armor just to get to that mushroom cap of a heart. Frankly, at 13, i thought the best part was the butter dipping.” Read more
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ALZHEIMER’S & THE GIFT OF FORGETTING
“Only ONCE did Granny say to me during her Alzheimer’s years, “I think I am losing my memory.” It was towards the end, in the middle of that period when she was wearing a diaper and I was re-instructing her on how to use a spoon. She didn’t even know my name and my first… Read more
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BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
“There is not one, single moment of one, single day that I would ever want to live over. not even the first kiss my husband gave me–that Malibu night, as waves crashed against the sand and my heart felt like a thousand stars imploding–could lure me back.” Read more
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GRANNY’S ONE-SENTENCE MARRIAGE ADVICE
“Though I didn’t know it then, I was walking into wedded bliss with a slew of needs I didn’t even know I had! It started with the toilet seat. I needed it to be down when I stumbled into the bathroom in the dead of night and had to go. I did not expect to… Read more
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MEANING, MESSAGES AND MERMAIDS
My 13 year-old still likes me to tell her stories at night. Trust me, after the first few years of doing this I ran out of ideas–and yet–somehow they still come. Often they involve animals or mermaids (since I AM one), but ALWAYS they have a message. This is NOT intentional on my part. … Read more
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THE HUMOR OF ALZHEIMER’S
“There’s nothing funny about Alzheimer’s,” the woman in the audience told me. “It’s just awful–every single part of it–just awful.” As I recall I had just shared some funny moments my husband and I had spent with my grandmother who had Alzheimer’s for the 13 years she lived in our home. Keep in mind, I… Read more
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SIX YEAR-OLD SHARES SECRET OF LIFE
“I was raised by a grandmother who believed you should put your heart in the moment. She never looked back or too far forward and it drove me crazy……….. Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 