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Aging in Place–with Help
On January 7, thick wet snow fell for the first time this winter. I wasn’t worried. I knew my friend and helper Matt had his eye on the weather. When my husband Vic had lymphoma in 2006, he was too...
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Divine Mother of Breath
Vic in the forest with friends I groped around in the dark searching for my ringing cell phone. It had to be Vic who was resting downstairs. I turned on a low light and made my way to his side. “What...
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A Shining Light Breaking Through the Storm
“But you’re bound to lose If you let the blues get you scared to feel And I feel like I’m just being born Like a shiny light breaking in a storm There are so many reasons why I love him” Joni Mitchell,...
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My Grandmother’s Diary Imagined From Stories She Told
Edna, 16 yrs old, graduating from Juliard November 6, 1893 (Chicago) I’m nine years old, and I’m scared. Papa died yesterday. Momma tries to hide her tears, but who will take care of me? Who will pay...
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Reaching for a Helping Hand
Anthony and David “No more heroics,” my son Anthony says. His brother David would say the same. “No. More. Heroics.” I hear him. I’ve never been sick like this. I’ve never felt so helpless. Anthony...
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Safe and Warm
I wake up to the silence of deafness. It’s 6 am and cool, but there’s warm pressure against my spine. Lying on top of the blankets, Disco stretches her lean body against my back. Almost five years ago,...
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The Gift of Community
EllaMay’s 80th birthday (photo by Vic Mansfield) Walking toward our favorite Chinese restaurant in Ithaca, NY in the late 1960s, we noticed a huge Buddha statue in a dusty storefront. The sign on the...
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Carried To Safety When Vertigo Knocked Me Down
Anthony getting ready to play “I want to hear Anthony play music, too,” I say to my son David who is visiting from North Carolina. Anthony is his younger brother who used to dj in CA but now lives a...
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Tell Us a Story about Love
Will I always remember your laughter? Will I remember the dancing? Will you visit in dreams? We met in a motorcycle shop. I was in love, but you were afraid. We grilled sandwiches, Drank wine,...
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The Woman They Loved
Eleanor Roosevelt (wikipedia) They disagreed about most everything. The right food to feed a baby. The best card game. How much a woman ought to weigh and whether or not she should wear a whalebone...
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