Death

My dad

10 May 2012 Brain food
Thumbnail image for My dad

Seven months after my dad’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis, he is gone, after the kind of week for which the word anguish exists. I flew out to California last Monday with my two girls for a weeklong visit, and he was fine. Chemotherapy had failed him, but he was feeling better without its toxic effects. Suddenly [...]

Read the full article →

My friend Faith

13 October 2011 Columbus, OH
Thumbnail image for My friend Faith

It’s been a strange, volatile week, starting high, plunging low and ending with the realization that most everything is a high compared to the lows that could be. The week began last Thursday with a rare and exciting treat: lunch with a new friend, the lovely, curious Faith Durand, Managing Editor extraordinaire of my favorite [...]

Read the full article →

A fund for Jennie

26 August 2011 Death
Thumbnail image for A fund for Jennie

In a vast world, tragedies happen every day, ones that make me want to reach through the television or the newspaper to devastated families that I don’t know. Using the tools of social media, a group of caring bloggers this week has managed to bridge the divide between caring strangers and someone in need. The [...]

Read the full article →

On loss: Maria Shriver and Susan Saint James

29 August 2010 Brain food
Thumbnail image for On loss: Maria Shriver and Susan Saint James

It is a sign of a good life to have much to lose. I’ve been lucky – I have my parents, my husband, my children, a large extended family and many longtime friends. But as I approach midlife, I feel acutely the inevitability of losing people that I love. An abundance of love is a [...]

Read the full article →