life
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NOW YOU SEE IT
I still remember every, single one of those metal staples being pulled out of me by pliers. That was just the surface pain. Underneath was a gut-wrenching trauma. As my surgeon breezily explained, “It’s brutal. I make a 10-inch incision across your knee and remove your knee cap. Then I saw your leg in half,… Read more
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SQUABBLE OR SCRABBLE?
Lately, my couples have been going after each other like these quail; their beaks moving fast and furiously to get the last seed— or word— in. Sometimes, I remove myself from the jabber and just listen. Two sentiments between multiple partners have repeated themselves over and over. They bear noting: 1. “You should know… how… Read more
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TRUST IS EVERYTHING
This buck won’t drink outside my window unless he feels safe. He knows I’m here and stares at me to be sure I don’t move. I don’t. After days of this, he has come to trust it here and now drinks every night at the same time. But trust takes time and it starts with… Read more
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NOT ENOUGH
Recently, Khloe Kardashian, 41, announced what she has done–so far–to make herself more beautiful: nose job, laser hair removal, chin implant, lip fillers, Botox, salmon sperm-facials, (yup) and soft-wave laser planing to tighten her skin. One wonders what more she’ll have done, or have to re-do, by the time she’s my age. The example she… Read more
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DEPENDENT ON INDEPENCE
There is a line in the Declaration of Independence that has long intrigued me: “all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” It intrigues me because of the truth of it. We do suffer, and… Read more
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THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU!
I have played pickleball under these signs countless times for several years. Until someone took this picture, I didn’t realize just how many, “NO’s” were above my head. There are nine to be exact. Why didn’t I see them before? Likely it’s because I’m always looking for the “Yes” in things, not the “No.” So, I wonder why… Read more
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MOTHERS: WHERE WOULD BE WITHOUT THEM?
For two years, I’ve watched a pair of eagles mate and brood. Last year, Jackie waited weeks for her eggs to hatch. When they didn’t, she tried again. This year, three hatched but only two chicks survived. Through inclement weather and attacks by predators, she and Shadow have ceaselessly protected and nurtured them. Soon, the… Read more
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INVISIBLE STRINGS
I have had a recurring dream since the age of 5. I’m in a schoolyard with other children and trying to climb up a fence. The teacher is yelling at me to, “Come Down!” With immense mental effort, I begin to rise very slowly. My feet hover just above the teacher’s outstretched hands. It takes… Read more
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GIDDY WITH GRATITUDE!
Recently, a new friend said to me at a party, “You come with a reputation. Everyone knows you and the reviews are all 5-star!” I felt so warm inside you’d have thought my heart was on fire. Isn’t it funny how two sentences can lift your spirits? It’s nice to imagine I might have that… Read more
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LIGHT IT UP
As a therapist, I’ve seen my share of suicides, psychotics, schizophrenics and other tortured souls: Men and women abusing each other or themselves. Couples with unrealistic expectations of their partners. Addicts unable to stop using drugs, eating food or watching porn and a populace that has seemingly lost its’ purpose. Recently, a teenager told me… Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 