Recently I had the urge to make updates around the house. However, I lost my favorite handyman when I lost Tony. (Spoiler alert, it was him.) Hiring someone to do the work is intimidating. It’s more expensive than I’m used to since we used to just pay for the materials and he would do 95% […]
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Early Firsts
I recently wrote about the many “firsts” I have experienced in life that happened with Lynn. It made me think about the “firsts” after Lynn, and the mixed feelings that often accompany these “first” experiences. There are the firsts that are more about grieving the lack / loss of Lynn’s presence. I remember the first […]
Forging New Paths Forward
This week, I had a new paver path installed in the front of the log home here in Central Florida. Each time there is a torrential downpour, a river of water washes down into the home’s foundation and we were looking for a method to divert the flow of water while adding curb appeal and […]
Upsides, Downsides, and Omens
For the past few months, my life feels like it’s been turned upside down with having to deal with my mom’s ongoing health issues. Some of it has resurfaced some old feelings from when Mario’s health was tanking. I think that’s a natural human reaction though. If you’ve been through similar things in the past, […]
Walking Through the Mist of Time
I was reading Tuesday’s edition of the New York Times and came across an article entitled, “Lingering Moose Shuts Down Popular Adirondack Trail for a Month,” see https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/nyregion/moose-goodman-mountain-trail.html (7-15-25). Among other bits of information, the article pointed out, “Awesome to behold in the wild, moose are the largest members of the deer family and are […]
Standing Between Milestones
I’m Still Here The yearly calendar continues its dance. Just passed July 4th wedding anniversary and just ahead, in August, Dan’s birthday (tho not till the 28th). A footpath for grief? Or milestones on the journey? Who can say for sure what any of it means? Poetry says it best. I held my morning […]
July Fourth
I missed my post last week because we took an extended 4th of July weekend. As tradition demands, we spent the early part of the day at my parents’ pool with friends. In the evening, my in-laws hosted their annual firework show. This is how we have tackled the 4th since before Tony died. It’s […]
The SIgnificance of Widow Friends
I had brunch in the Castro in San Francisco today with two close widow friends, one of their partners, and my (alive) partner. I met my two widow friends thru Soaring Spirits’ LGBTQI+ Regional Group, and we are in our own tight knit group of 15 widows and 3 (now 4) alive partners of 4 […]
A “Tail of Two Dog Worlds”
Last Tuesday I found myself immersed in meetings that revolved around the world of dogs; a lunch gathering with the owner of the local animal rescue (I serve on their board) and her colleagues and later, a Zoom meeting with the board of the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA). Two distinct worlds, both united […]
Past and Present
The summer of 2020 was a weird and unsettling time. We were early in the pandemic and there was just a heavy feeling all around. Mario’s health was really tanking, yet he was still not acknowledging it. We’d gone on a short camping trip about 50 miles to the east. I remember we had a […]
My Friend is Okay, and So Am I
If history is any guide, a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, sometimes also referred to as a ministroke, will strike approximately one-quarter million Americans this year. See “A Ministroke Can Have Major Consequences” by Paula Span, found at https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/ministroke-transient-ischemic-attack-tia-major-consequences/ (5/27/25). According to the American Stroke Association, it occurs when blood flow to the brain is […]
Looking back . . .
. . . it was all fear. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” –C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed An interesting phenomena when looking back to the early days of widowhood is that I see things now that I was unable to see then. Things I may or may not […]