How I feel today - Today I am frustrated. People seem to think grief ends at a specific time. There is no specific moment in which the grief just magically ends. I keep telling myself it is okay to cry, it is okay to feel sad even if it is for no reason. It's days...

Cookies – bringing grandmothers closer to grandkids for years.

There are many foods my grandma perfected, but none quite as delightful as the molasses cookie. Molasses cookies are the perfect cookie. They are sweet, but not overly sweet. They are a beautiful rich brown, with perfect cracks holding granules of sugar in each delicious bite. Molasses cookies have been the cookies of choice in...

Dementia: It Kills More Than Breast and Prostate Cancer Combined.

Two days before her last, sitting in the living room of her first-floor apartment where I was a frequent visitor I will never forget her demand, “No, not you. I want Laura.” As my uncle tried to help her up out of the chair to use the restroom, she was aggressive and unhappy. She didn't...

Tom, Meet Velma Jean.

I’m trying to explain to Tom, my boyfriend, who Velma Jean was. I’m not having much success so far. I keep trying to tell him everything she was, and everything she wanted to be. The memories I share tell her life story. From trial and error, there are a number of things I have learned...

She Voted For Obama. Twice.

Watching the news and listening to the latest report from President Donald Trump, I can’t believe the vomit that spews from his mouth. The vulgar words, the constant yelling, the threats against other countries, the need to “protect” America. Reading his tweets makes my eyes roll so far back I see my brain. I wonder...

Never Say Goodbye

I’m sitting in my car. Bon Jovi’s Never Say Goodbye is playing on the oldies station and the sun is peaking through the clouds. As I wave to my parents, I think about the complex nature of goodbyes. On my long drive home from my parent’s house, I think about how sometimes goodbye is something...