Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
“You never express your feelings, Mom. Everything gets swept under the rug.” This from my middle daughter, who raged at me recently for never being available to help, She has an expectation that Grandparents should be always on call. “And why did you choose to live so far away!” It’s 45 minutes by car, and […]
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Fear and intimidation formed the basis of his power. To this day I tremble, afraid I’ve misstepped – parked the car wrong, forgot to close the door properly, or spoken out of turn. My father was a hand grenade with the pin perpetually pulled. He was also motivational, citing the works of Carnegie, Peale, Gibran, […]
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It is easy to engage in surroundings when vacationing: all travellers belong, having escaped (even if momentarily) their scripted lives. We project friendliness onto strangers – mothers meeting outside our day-to-day – have new things to discuss. Dare to confess concerns, or approach the personal, and the shunning is immediate. Only peripheral conversations are expected […]
Read MoreWhat an incredible story! Claire Fuller creates characters who are flawed and yet sympathetic. Meet Gil, an aging writer and incorrigible Lothario, who sudden obsession with books leads his daughters to be concerned about his state of mind. Meet Ingrid, his wife who has been missing for eleven years, presumed dead, and whose voice haunts […]
Read MoreI’m obsessed with the television reality show: Married At First Sight. The show promotes itself as a social experiment: over 30,000 singles apply to have experts find them a suitable spouse, out of which, six are chosen. It’s a bit like coming across a car accident, and not being able to tear your eyes away; […]
Read MoreHumbled is only way I can describe my experience of Paul Beatty’s novel, “The Sellout”. Beatty’s comic approach to issues ranging from being raised by a single parent, racial matters, love, and the judicial system is cleverly acerbic. Each line of the novel is packed with cutting commentary, and I found myself laughing out loud […]
Read MoreI’m seeing it now as a sitcom, you know 22 minute vignettes in which the ordinary becomes the absurd. Episode One: The Preparations Are Mighty As departure time draws near, Ric’s paper plans have overtaken the house. Meanwhile, VJ, unable to get out of bed, is trying to direct a flustered hired help to pack […]
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One Woman's Quest II 