grateful

Grateful to Be Alive

(Snowball in Better Times)

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

Unpacking My Cats

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

On Spike Heels, Bubble Dresses & Portugal

When I was a little girl, my mother had this dress, a bubble dress. I think it was in a soft blue, green color.  More than the dress however, I remember the spike heels.  My mother was five feet (with great legs) and I’m sure the spike heels helped a lot with my Dad who was 6’3”.

I remember that when my sisters got to a certain age, they started with the spike heels, and I would try walking in … Read the rest

The Theatre Bug

I am grateful to Sirius which has a Broadway channel.

And I am grateful to my mother who shared with me her love of Broadway musicals.

I didn’t have the relationship I would’ve liked with my mother. She was a difficult woman, who, in all fairness, had had a difficult, if not unfathomable first twenty years. And I was probably not a child she felt a particular affinity for. Independent, argumentative, strong-willed, emphatic, dramatic, uninterested in all the predictable girl … Read the rest

Probably Not a Hallmark Card

If your mother is still alive, I envy you. If your mother is still alive and the two of you enjoy hanging out together, I envy you. If your mother has passed on, but you used to enjoy hanging out with her, I envy you. If you wax poetic about your Mom- how she’s always been your best friend, or how she’s been your role model, or how she taught you how to survive in a world that just barely … Read the rest

They Can’t Take That Away From Me

I had a premonition.

The last time I blogged, I imagined that if Drumpf actually won, I would need to be grateful that I’ve had the life I have had for all these years, without it being torn up side down.

I’m still grateful for that—but I would be lying if I said that was enough.

I find it more difficult than ever to look around and feel gratitude.

I know I’m not alone—and I suppose I’m grateful for that—but … Read the rest

Being Grateful in the Age of Drumpf

I’ve been trying to figure out why this election has literally moved me to tears.  Why I wake up in the middle of the night, can’t sleep, and find myself dry heaving in the bathroom.  Why the possibility of a Drumpf presidency forces me to spend hours investigating a move to and appkly for visiting professorships in Canada.

In 2004, after the election of Bush for a second time, I was diagnosed with costochondritis. That’s an acute, often temporary inflammation … Read the rest

No Regrets

When I was in college, I didn’t want to be there. Rather than drop out, I decided to work like a maniac and graduate in three years rather than four. But that meant going to summer school and taking classes morning, noon and night.

During an intensive 3 week Intersession period, I took Elementary Spanish in the morning. 9:00 AM-12:30 PM five days a week. The professor was absolutely horrible and constantly said disparaging things—particularly about American women. All the … Read the rest