I can still hear my father over the phone, making promises to come and spend time with my sister and me. He had a lovely baritone voice, and when he laughed, his whole body seemed to shake with mirth. I adored him, even though I probably only spent ten days of my entire childhood with... Continue Reading →
When Everything Seems to Go Bottoms Up, You Have to Be Your Own Advocate
I feared having a tooth extracted, but the tooth was cracked and could not be saved. I had it pulled two weeks ago, and I am still dealing with a dry socket. I may have to change dentists because, after seeing me for the dry socket once, the dentist now tells me to use dry... Continue Reading →
The Fall That Keeps on Giving
I am still here. I'm posting only a few times a week, but I'm hoping for a change in my health that will allow me to blog more. If you remember, I fell in Vienna nearly three months ago. I had to have an emergency root canal, and I thought that was the end of... Continue Reading →
Peace Comes When the Beat of the Music and the Beats of My Heart Become One
I spent many a day trying to find peace in a chaotic world. The way it was described to me was that peace was the absence of noise, a quiet time of contemplation and reflection. But I found that not to be so. Peace is like beauty, in the eye of the beholder, meaning it... Continue Reading →
I Used to Think I was Ordinary, But No More!
Paris, France, May 2024 As a black woman raised in the South in Tennessee, I thought that I was an ordinary person, nothing special about me. I was told that I would probably live my whole life in the South, never going beyond the boundary of my hometown. I was also someone who loved books... Continue Reading →
Thank Goodness Some Nicknames Don’t Stick!
As a little girl, my nickname was Baldy. It seems that as a toddler, I contracted some kind of head rash that meant cutting off all of my hair. So, Baldy became what people called me, from aunts and uncles to neighbors. I must have been in the third or fourth grade before I even... Continue Reading →
When Getting Old Isn’t Pretty
I was a teenager during the 1960s when the world was changing rapidly. I witnessed the Flower Power movement, protests against the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Gay and Lesbian Movement. I was a feminist before I had a name for it. As a girl who had to clean house after school,... Continue Reading →
A Good Book Will Ruin a Good Night’s Sleep
Needless to say, I suffer many a night without ample sleep because I can't rest until I know the end of the story or the culprit. With bookshelves full of hardbacks and a Kindle with over a hundred books, I will be missing a lot of sleep. I have learned not to start a Daniel... Continue Reading →
Unsolicited Advice or Opinions Get My Goat
One thing that bothers me is unsolicited opinions on my behavior. Social media is packed with it, and the ability to remain anonymous has increased the rate of unsolicited opinions given in such hateful and unloving ways to people they don't even know. I don't like it when people think they have the right to... Continue Reading →
Finding Comfort Amidst Suffering Isn’t Easy, But I Try
Gibbs Gardens, Ballground, GA Dealing with the aftermath of a fall in your seventies is tough, as 70-something bodies don't recuperate as fast as 20-something bodies. Nearly two months after falling in Vienna, I am still suffering from trauma to my mouth, which leaves me frustrated and uncomfortable. But life is too short to allow... Continue Reading →
Help from Heaven 