loving relationships

Life Without My Husband, Day 8

My husband Terry is on a three-week Australian road trip with his best friend, and I took this opportunity to spend a weekend of retreat at the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts. There were mostly women there, which got me thinking. A recent radio science program featured a segment about how the male chromosome is sheddingContinue reading “Life Without My Husband, Day 8”

Life Without My Husband (Day Three)

Today was Thanksgiving. My daughter and I feasted at the assisted living home where my aunt Jean lives — a mild, merely warm repast. Jean gets more frail every day. There were several people there who had no visitors. Dorothy (a pleasant, tidy woman who spends her day doing Sudoku in the sun room) wasContinue reading “Life Without My Husband (Day Three)”

Life Without My Husband – Day Two

I had trouble getting to sleep on my first night alone, but once there, I slept longer than usual. I forget — were queen-sized beds meant for two people or only one? My childhood friend Suzy’s parents had two queen-sized beds. All the parents I knew had twin beds separated by a little table, justContinue reading “Life Without My Husband – Day Two”

Tragedy all around

Yoga evens you out and strengthens you, but more importantly, meditation (which simply means sitting there and breathing) invites strength and balance to deal with tragedy and pessimism. So what is the pessimism of the day? Global warming, which threatens our very existence, the unexpected accidental death of an extraordinary person you know, the massContinue reading “Tragedy all around”

Same Sex Marriage

Doesn’t everyone have an opinion on this subject these days? Here are the stages I went through Grew up unaware that homosexuality existed. One family I knew of had a son who sold antiques who only visited, I was told, on rare occasions, but was known for wearing flamboyant clothes and was, said my motherContinue reading “Same Sex Marriage”

Domesticated men

I have been watching two men take over the domestic life of their families — my son and my husband. My son has to take care of two children by himself for extended periods of time. He irons their school clothes and makes their lunches at night, figures out methods of discipline, gets them toContinue reading “Domesticated men”

Husbands and crutches

I just hobbled to my desk, hugging two crutches under my left arm so I could carry a mug of hot tea in my right hand. I broke tiny bones in my foot and this is what I am reduced to. Fifteen years ago I badly sprained my ankle and had to commute to theContinue reading “Husbands and crutches”

Stories from the nursing home

I have to stop writing about the nursing home. People don’t want to read about them. Do they? I can’t promise this will be my last story from the nursing home, but I can’t resist. I have been visiting my aunt in a spacious, sunny, clean, pleasant, friendly place which would not, by the way,Continue reading “Stories from the nursing home”

Stories from the nursing home — wedding vows after 63 years

My friends Kit and Julian Caplan were married for 64 years. Kit died a few weeks ago, and today was the memorial service. I couldn’t stop the tears when I embraced Julian, who is a prince of a man if there ever was one. The people who remembered Kit at the service mentioned what allContinue reading “Stories from the nursing home — wedding vows after 63 years”