A Bit of a Rant

I hate calling the doctor.  I hate going to the doctor.  I hate making the appointment, the time spent on hold, the time spent in the waiting room, the verification of my health insurance.  I hate the whole thing, which is why I don’t go nearly as often as I should.  I made my appointment [...]

Philosophical Differences

“What the heck is this?” I said, handing over our town’s local paper to the person sitting next to me. We were at our First Selectman’s home on a Saturday morning in April.  He’d invited my group of education advocates over plus a few of his political allies in town to discuss the budget defeat [...]

What We Did

Thursday, September 1, 2005: I can’t tell you all how amazed I am at the response to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Project. I am sure you’re all watching the news as much as I am, and what I’m seeing makes me feel even more strongly than ever that we must do whatever it is each [...]

Hey Jealousy

“What did you think?” I asked my photographer friend on the phone about our Rockford trip.  We’d been home two days and I was still basking in the glow of a job well done and a party well enjoyed. “You know, I think that the new people in Rick’s camp were all pretty impressed by [...]

Crazy Charity Luncheon

“Hi, I’d like to welcome all of you to the Shock Street Team Luncheon to benefit the American Red Cross,” I said into the microphone.  I wasn’t nervous; now that I’d been teaching adults at the university, public speaking amongst other peers had gotten easier. Plus, everything was fabulous.  My friend Helen, who had planned [...]

The Lesser of the Two

Zachary was in tears.  To see my fourteen year old son crying, my son who was so quiet and hardly showed any extreme emotion, was heartbreaking. “But we just were starting to get settled here.  I can’t believe you want to take me away from everything I know, again.” Z had seemed to bounce back [...]

The Road Paved With Envy

“What are the kids doing upstairs?”  I asked my sister as she settled on the sofa next to me. “Does it matter?  They’re quiet and not bugging us.”  She laughed and handed me a glass of iced tea to sip on while we watched television. It was Spring Break and my sister had piled her [...]

A Nasty Mess

The phone was ringing, but I was ignoring it.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of my computer screen.  I could call back R’s sister later; reading the two thousand plus word long missive Elizabeth had sent to the thousands of subscribers to our internet mailing list could not. I should have known it was [...]

Houston, We Might Have a Problem

“Trouble in paradise?” asked my friend Kim, who had recently started to work with me on some new graphics for the two Rick Springfield fan websites.  We were chatting on the phone while I nursed Michael and Melinda played with toys on the floor of the family room.  The room was an absolute wreck with [...]

Something To Do

Helpless. The days that followed the unspeakable tragedy on 9/11 were marked with one feeling beyond any other. Helpless. The lists of the missing grew; some names were added and some names were removed as the days wore on.  I kept hitting refresh on the page for those who worked with our friend Marni at [...]