My husband and I were in the nosebleed section of a beautiful new auditorium. It was intermission, so the house was somewhat empty. In need of a bathroom break, I kicked through empty cups and beer cans scattered around my feet. That’s where my fellow theatregoers discarded their trash. Before they headed to the lobby. Where there …
“How long do you cook beans before you freeze them?” My 82-year-old grandmother said as soon as my mother answered her phone call. Grandma had a life to live, so she never wasted time on social niceties like “Hi.” My mother was momentarily confused. She never quite adjusted to her mother-in-law’s bluntness. “Where did you …
Jessica Jones (Netflix) is my favorite superhero. Her wardrobe is more biker chick than Super Woman. She drinks alone. She uses belligerence and coldness to keep people at bay, hoping to sidestep entanglement. In fact, she considers herself a former superhero turned private investigator, where hiding in shadows and avoiding people is in the job …
I walked into my mother’s room to find a bearded man in a down vest and hiking boots standing at the foot of her death bed. He introduced himself and I recognized his name immediately. He was the nursing home doctor. AKA my mother’s nemesis. Their relationships spanned several years, because she’d been in and out of …
One day in February 2017, I thought “My mother is dying.” She had been fighting health problems for several years; but, that day, I knew in my heart when she turned a corner. It was, of course, true that she was dying. In fact, it was true the day she was born. When she started teaching …