A Hundred Phone Calls Willow and I sat for about an hour in the Urgent Care waiting room on the Saturday afternoon she went down, and our dear friend, Mike Smith—my sometimes second (soccer) husband—brought Willow a burger and a chocolate shake. It turns out that it was the most food she’d eat for the […]
ACL Diary: The Immediate Aftermath Read More »
Thursday, April 28, 2011 From the moment my daughter went down on the soccer field, my guts told me what we’d be facing. But there wasn’t any way to truly prepare for the emotions her ACL injury would invoke. It has been just shy of a full lunar cycle since the incident—26 days—only one week
ACL Diary: And So Begins the Rehab Read More »
The first entry in a series, ACL Diary, documenting my daughter’s ACL injury. Spring, 2011. A woman named Peggy Tanous on the Bravo TV Series, Real Housewives of Orange County, pissed me off when she made a blanket statement about Soccer Moms. My message to Peggy: “Don’t talk about what you don’t know.”
ACL Diary: Real Soccer Moms Read More »
Tea Break in Ohr October 28, 2010 This review is from: Irish Twins (Paperback) Between sips of fragrant tea, misty memories drift past Anne, the central character of this afterlife story. Struck down without the benefit of a warning while water-skiing, 80 year old Anne is reunited with her “Irish Twin” sister Molly in Ohr,
Top Amazon Reviewer Gives 5-Stars to Irish Twins Read More »
Book Review: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout This is one of those books that might not grab you in the first fifty pages. You may be tempted to cast it aside and dive into another book on your long reading list, as was the case with more than one reader in my book group. Please
Praise the Lord, said the Parrot Read More »
“Wings” Written in 1993. Published in the book, The Things I Wish I’d Said He’s breaking out. Like a butterfly emerging from a thirty-year-old chrysalis, his legs kick and his wings form. He is finally growing up. And soon, if he makes it through this struggle, he will fly with a new self-confidence, a new
Wings: For Mike. Happy Anniversary Read More »
By Linda Bulger It’s not remarkable for a novel to start with the death of an 80-year-old woman. If she dies while water-skiing, as Anne Shields does in Irish Twins, the reader’s attention is engaged. And if the story then turns to a transitional afterlife where Anne is guided to an assessment of her life
I had a lovely life . . . and I did my best. Read More »
REVIEW OF IRISH TWINS By: Betty Dravis This is one of the best books I’ve read in ages. I liked everything about it; from the gripping opening to the journey through Anne Shields’s life—and afterlife—to the shocking ending, I was enthralled. Of lesser importance, but an additional pleasure: the cover is also original and extremely
Stray socks. Bathing suit pieces. Cell phone chargers. Dirty Towels. Balled-up T-shirts. Stuffed animals. Pacifiers. iPods. Beach shoes. Sunglasses. If I had to name the top ten items left behind by resort guests, all of the above would be on this list. Except for the iPods, phone chargers, and sunglasses, most people don’t notice the
The Things They Leave Behind Read More »
Today is one of them. The Beav and I covered about four-and-a-half miles this morning in triple digit temperatures and I swear, as much bile spilled from my tongue as sweat poured from my glands. If there’s really such a thing as “going on strike” from the job of motherhood, I think it’s fair to
Some Days I Abhor Being a Mother Read More »
