Mother’s Day 2025 will be remembered as the day we made the decision to put Smidget to sleep the following day.
Smidget is 19. She’s had, I believe, the very best of lives. I certainly hope so, since when we got her, I spent at least the first year believing she was reincarnated. And I wanted this life to be even better than her previous one. I would hold her, and she would look at me deeply, and I swear … Read the rest
Children don’t understand irony or sarcasm and they don’t understand change. When you’re a kid, it’s impossible to imagine that you won’t always be beaten, or bullied, or sent to bed without dinner because you just couldn’t choke down broiled beef liver, no matter how you buried it under mashed potatoes or ketchup.
As the youngest of three girls in my family, I had a preview of life by seeing how my sisters did or didn’t navigate it: struggling … Read the rest
I was trying to make a list of all the things I’m grateful for, but instead I became overwhelmed with all the things that are horrible right now and keep me in a state of never-ending depression and anxiety.
Hamas- deaths caused by Hamas, rapes by Hamas, destruction of a people by Hamas, the rise of anti-Semitism caused by Hamas lies and propaganda (Ok- anti-Semitism has been here since time immemorial, Hamas just brushed off the small amount of dirt
I try to live in a state of gratitude all the time. Well, at least as much as possible.
I really am cognizant and grateful of all that I have, especially my husband, my cats, my friends, chocolate, my health—not necessarily in that order every day.🤪
But today, I feel like I could’ve easily been killed—so I am truly SO grateful to be simply alive.
To give some context, I got my driver’s license when … Read the rest
I live my life- as I imagine most of us do- working, loving, enjoying, commiserating, and rejoicing with my friends, family, and colleagues around me. When I do think of those who are no longer in my daily circle, because of geographical distance, different paths, or changed attitudes, I think of them somewhere in the world, going about their own lives, carrying on as always. Hopefully having a good life wherever and whatever they are doing.
AND YET
(with acknowledgement to Alan Jay Lerner’s “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”
Every person I speak to lately seriously sounds like they’re struggling with some sort of PTSD, anxiety, stress disorder, or depression. I know I feel that way. I describe it like inches of grey ash, the kind you see after a volcanic explosion, weighing me down. On my head, shoulders, eyelashes…Can’t be brushed or even washed off. Always here. Not difficult to figure out why. Onslaught … Read the rest
We all go about our day, juggling personal and professional obligations; popping on and off Zoom calls, all the while doing laundry EVERY SINGLE WEEK😱 (ever notice that before you even turn around, the hamper is full???!!—has it been a week already?) shopping for food; answering emails; cutting cats’ toenails; buying birthday cards; killing the mealy bugs on plants with Q-tips soaked in rubbing alcohol; vacuuming hair balls… you get my drift. And unless we have a tooth problem, a … Read the rest
The first day after the election, I couldn’t imagine that Biden won. When my mind went to the possibility, I could feel the pressure of heavy tears against my eyes, as if an onion in its prime had been waved under my nose. I didn’t want to cry—it seemed so overly dramatic. But that’s how I felt. That if it were really true, that we wouldn’t have to live in a country that had been taken over by a mad … Read the rest
It’s the little things. It’s always the little things that make life so wonderful, so astonishing, so worth it all.
For the last week or so, in anticipation of a film shoot we have out in Illinois, I’ve been trying to find the Lysol/Clorox disinfectant wipes to take on our road trip. No luck. Costco, Walmart, Shoprite, Amazon, — online or in person, strike out. So I posted on my neighborhood list serve if anyone knew where I could pick … Read the rest
Sometimes being grateful isn’t a matter of being thankful for what you have or what you’ve experienced, but rather being grateful for what you don’t have or what hasn’t happened to you.
So though I’m endlessly grateful for my cute husband, who rolls our laundry into neat piles after seeing a Marie Kondo wannabe explain how to declutter your house; and my cats; and my chocolate; and my flowering begonias; I am also grateful that I have never had a … Read the rest
