In short, we need to take care of each other . . . . Sometimes it feels as if, when we can’t do the things we normally do for ourselves or others, we shouldn’t do anything at all. But these days, a text or a phone call can go a really long way. So don’t wait.
Here’s the thing, Mom. You’ve been living on catastrophe island. But it’s uninhabitable. It’s not conducive to life. It’s time for you to get off the island.
For any parent who loves an adult child who has ever been incarcerated, I’m writing this for you. For anyone whose adult child experiences mental illness and addiction. For anyone who has […]
Once upon a time I was a new mother. It was before body positivity, before athletes and models came in all shapes and sizes (though I admit we still have a long […]
I picked a hell of a time to start dating again. Ending a nearly seven-year relationship with my former partner, Alex, was hard enough, as was the discussion of whether or not […]
This made me wonder if, at some point, we’re going to become a society of “the masked vs. the unmasked.” If so, how will we be viewed? Will the masked be applauded? Ostracized? And will the opposite happen to the unmasked? Which way is society going to go?
Nearly every spring when I was a kid in the 1970s, growing up on a horse farm in rural central Illinois, we had ice storms. Often they came in the late afternoon, […]
My neighborhood isn’t as pretty as the sinuous, color-coordinated, HOA-governed neighborhoods. Our streets are pot-holed, sidewalks abruptly end without apology, and some front yards have become gravel parking lots for boats and […]
In 1918, my great-grandmother, Frances Pengelski, was married with two babies under two years old, living in relative poverty in Brooklyn. I was fortunate to know my nana well. The year I […]
*Note: This was written on March 10. A lot has changed in a week. Long before COVID-19, I practiced social distancing. In fact, I practice self-isolation most of the time now, […]
