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There is a photograph from 1860 that hangs in the elevator lobby of my condo building. Most people who look at it, if they look at it at all, probably think “That’s pretty,” or “What an interesting historic photograph.” I […]

Before we went to brunch, Mom and I waited in her living room for it to be time to leave, she on her petite sofa, me at her table by the sliding-glass door. She had washed her hair that morning

My mom moved into her retirement community three years ago this July. On the way back from Mother’s Day brunch, as she rode her scooter in the long hallway and I walked along side, I asked, “How do you feel

At my mom’s, outside the sliding-glass door in her living room, across the narrow stone patio and a swath of grass bright green from recent rain, there is a cherry tree. Cornus mas. It is about 20 feet tall and just

Last week, I argued with reality: “She shouldn’t just push her empty plate at me and expect me to pick it up.” “He should help, or at least call.” “I should be making more progress on my book.” Every ‘should’

I am back at my mom’s again, this time by automobile rather than airplane because I don’t know how long I will need to be here. On other trips I have come out of obligation (could she tell?), with silent

“What thoughts do I allow myself to think at breakfast?” I read that recently somewhere. I thought it was in one of Steven Pressfield’s Writing Wednesdays blog posts but can’t find it now. The point the author was making was

The third question: Aren’t you afraid you’ll get writer’s block? Writer’s block doesn’t frighten me. This is not because I view myself as exceptional or immune. I am not afraid of writer’s block for the same reason I am not afraid

According to a 2014 study by the RAND Corporation, 49% of single women will not have enough savings for retirement, compared to 20% of married couples and 35% of single men.  The second question: How did you do it? Meaning:

In the process of transitioning out of full-time employment, there were three questions I was asked consistently. The first came from people around my age and they asked it only when no one else was around: How did you know