Common sense reminds me that I’m not a fortune teller. I could not have known that hours from our conversation, my friend would be in critical care. Even if I were more insistent, would it have mattered? She had looked tired, and we parted in a tiff because she refused…

Driving on the right takes a lot of vigilance — Driving a car never interested me. Transportation in London made it easy to get around so I did not need to drive. A new job on the south coast changed that and I became an adult learner. As an orthopedic nurse, the story of a brilliant teacher, my age at…

This photograph is aspirational. My wardrobe after all the clearing out remains cluttered. Dresses and trousers share hangers to maximize space. Rearranging my wardrobe for the season reminded me of my teenage years. I had five Sunday dresses and a pair of good shoes. Now in the sunset of my…

Start with a smile today — The purpose of life is to contribute in some way to make things better. Robert F. Kennedy On Sunday my careful plans, for the afternoon after attending Church, were disrupted. My ailing friend, who had accompanied me, could not find his key. As he painfully climbed back into the car…

When they find another consuming passion to replace their first love — If I couldn’t write, I could say that my world would be irrevocably changed. I would spend my days without focus and drift along without a life of purpose. I would need therapy. But why would I not write? I was writing as a little girl. At my high school…

The words were difficult to understand as the speaker sobbed. Eventually, I grasped the horror of her words. John, our handyman, had died suddenly of a heart attack. He tackled all the work we couldn’t do with enthusiasm and good humor. I conspired with him to get rid of lots…

You accept what can’t be changed and do better — “True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” Oprah Winfrey A Lenten Reminder of Forgiveness Each week during the Lenten season, our Church reflected on the topic of “Apology and Forgiveness.” Forgiveness is hard but healthy as we move from victimhood to growth. However, what do we do when we damage…