Have Christmas Cards Become Obsoleted (Too)?

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This year, I once again spent a good deal of time writing a special verse for my family’s annual Christmas card. I also selected a number of recent photos of my college-age kids to share as part of the card. Sending Christmas cards is a tradition that my mom first exposed me to when I was very young; I routinely sent relatives a hand-written card…not expecting anything in return, just to connect with them and wish them well. My mom had thought it was particularly important as most of my relatives lived on the other side of the US from our family. I fear this tradition is coming to an end, however. As with many things in my life, I feel like I am plodding along in a dinosaur fashion by actually sending out physical cards. Have Christmas cards now become obsoleted, too? 

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The Perfect Daughter-in-Law

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What happens when your child grows up – but is still in college – and brings home the perfect spouse? And you wonder…is this type of serious commitment good or bad at such a young age? Today’s technology-centric world even complicates this question further, as I recently found out…when I met the perfect daughter-in-law…    Continue reading →

Hair here…hair where?

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Yesterday I put on my most powerful reading glasses and pushed my face up right next to the bathroom mirror, really close… I do this infrequently just to get a reality check on what is going on at close-range. Normally, I stand at a much safer distance – at least a few feet from the mirror – and wear a less powerful pair of glasses.

What’s the difference, you say?  Continue reading →

A Voice From Vietnam – Remembering Veterans

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Thought I’d post a story that I wrote in honor of Veterans Day…but really, the message is important no matter what day it is…

This story was published in the San Jose Mercury News many years ago…

I had saved a letter that was over 40 years old; it was from a soldier during the Vietnam War, sent to me (a young student)…the letter was dated Dec 15, 1969…

vietnam letter

Staff Sgt. Fred Laning had written to me in response to a letter that I had sent to “any Vietnam soldier” as part of an elementary school project. His reply had said he was in a Vietnam hospital in Cam Ranh Bay, recovering from malaria, and that he would soon be going back to the field. At that time, he had another 10 months left prior to his scheduled discharge from the Army…

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Page 1 of my 40+ year old letter from Vietnam…

Read the story at this link or click on “more” for the complete text: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_24470570/commentary-soldiers-voice-from-vietnam?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

(No More) Photo Album Memories?

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The other day I made a photo album as a gift for a special friend. She has been a friend of mine for over 30 years; we met as next-door college dorm neighbors. I had a lot of photos to choose from, many were taken pre-digital era, of course…so had I not had the photos I could have still dug out the negatives and made prints (well, assuming there are places in the world where you can still make prints from negatives, I suppose). I think about the young people today, with their total reliance on their smart phones for photos…what will they have when they get older and want to look back at their youth? Continue reading →

The Vision-ary Reason Why I Carry a Big Purse

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Eyeglasses When I was younger I had perfect vision.  Over the past few years, however, my eyes have declined…significantly…and I often wonder if in God’s infinite wisdom he planned on that…as your body becomes less than perfect as you age…as the wrinkles come and the grey hairs (and those other annoying hairs!) start to sprout…maybe poor vision is God’s way of being kind and cutting your self-esteem some slack…    Continue reading →

The Smells of Parenthood

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The other day my 21-year-old son was in the kitchen, and when I came downstairs an awful stench hit my nose. As I rounded the corner, he was throwing something sealed in a plastic bag into the garbage. He had the most disgusted look on his face. He almost shouted to me, “This is the worst smell I’ve ever experienced in my life, rotted Kale…nothing could be worse.”

So are all the parents out there laughing??? Oh, the smells of parenthood…WE all know that there are a LOT of things that can be worse than the smells of weeks old Kale… Continue reading →

The Male Frontal Cortex – A Terrible Disease Comes To Light

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I just went into the bathroom and found the small garbage can there overflowing with the plastic covering from some of my husband’s dry-cleaning.  Ok, so maybe that doesn’t sound like the biggest issue in the world, but the garbage piling up is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the very serious ailment that my husband and kids have, “IENDOINM” syndrome. So very sad…maybe members of your family have it, too…

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Weighty Matters

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wedding_snippedWho else out there is desperately hoping to NOT double their dress size from what it was when they were married? Anyone? 

The other day, while cleaning out the attic, I found a little yellow ballerina tutu that I wore in the 2nd grade. I marveled at the size of it…..such a tiny waist.

For a moment, seeing that tiny waist brought me back in time to my wedding…there, I wore a very petite (for my height!), size 8 gown…with a tiny, tiny waist…I remember people even commenting on it, so tiny… 

What the hell happened?   Continue reading →

Pot or Not?

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                                                                             Legalize Pot or Not?

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At the risk of being classified by my kids as totally uncool and not with the times…yet again…

I decided to come out of the closet and admit…that I did not vote to legalize pot in California in the last election. Surprised? Me TOO, actually! I’m pretty liberal and I also am a firm believer that people should take responsibility for their own actions and health. 

But with my kids still under 21, my little “momism warning antennae” went up, I guess…the idea of sending the message that “pot is ok” to young teens just seemed wrong…what do you think?

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