My father-in-law Ed, who has advanced Parkinson’s, broke two of his ribs and scapula the other day and then had a puddle of fluid drained...

Where am I from? Am I from the one-story house in Indiana where Gina lived next door and ate her boogers to which I dry-heaved? Were we...

What a coincidence. America celebrates its independence from Britain the same week I celebrate independence from my imperial self. If I...

The other day I got the shock of my young life. Nothing catastrophic, though it might have been. Thankfully, I escaped being the star of...

Back in April, I was pulled over by police checking for expired auto registrations. Mine was quite expired, as the sticker on my...

I’ve seen people lately. A variety of them — family, writers, coaches. I’ve seen more folks than these, but these people I saw in person,...

I remember when my dad said, “I’m starting to fade away.” We all knew this was going to happen, including him. It would be his brain...

My youngest son graduated from college last weekend on the historic University of Virginia lawn. Perfect weather. Brilliant sunshine....

Let’s say one day amid a bustling town square, three strangers stood not far from each other and witnessed a five-year-old girl hand an...

The other day I sat at the kitchen counter as my son grabbed a bag of broccoli florets from the freezer and dumped them into a pot to...

The other day I was a mock judge for my eleven-year-old neighbor’s Lego robotics project. Because I’ve become the neighborhood’s child...

I’m sure the reason I’m the date of choice among my siblings is that I have otherworldly entertainment value. Although, it’s possible the...

[Just to let you know —I mention a traumatic death below.] When my oldest son was nine, he started playing travel soccer for Coach...

It didn’t take long before my kids were learning things I’d never learned — maybe they were in second or third grade. If you count high...

We can see ourselves in everything. We can mirror everything, too. I mirror my husband when his tone shifts and his voice rises with the...

World, you’re a paradox of placid shoreline and earthquake swallowing of life. You’re a dual attitude of melody and screech. You are as...

I’ll never forget the way Anna, an old friend, characterized herself. “I’m a quitter,” she said. She was referring to the way she handled...

Recently, I wrote a nonsense humor piece about a message-in-a-bottle conference. The conference was given by bottles and attended by...

My mother-in-law, Bev, died on Christmas day 2019. Her celebration-of-life memorial was squeezed in right before Covid shut the US down...

My darling sunk-cost fallacy You probably don’t think of me as a leaf mulch farmer. I don’t want that. I want you to think of me as...