I saw the wrap-around-the-corner line at the Apple store yesterday on Michigan Avenue. Exciting. Then I heard on the news that sales were reaching more than the first four Harry Potter movies--in part due to Steve Job's death. I like stopping to reflect on the meaning of someone's life. I did that last week on …
Category: chicago
Triathlon – SWIM – Chicago, 2011
In the following slide show, walk along with me to and from the swim portion of Chicago's Triathlon. It was crisp and sunny this morning, a perfect day to enjoy the outdoors and the wonders of the human body. There are thousands of tourists in town. One participant (staying at our home!) said, "This race …
Invite: Book Event, Bourgeois Pig Cafe, Chicago
As featured author on Tuesday, August 23, 7:30pm, I'll be reading excerpts from Caring Lessons: A Nursing Professor's Journey of Faith and Self. See The Reader for details. The Bourgeois Pig Cafe is located at 738 West Fullerton in Chicago. Come early and munch on their yummy sandwiches. The Bourgeois Pig is a cozy, student- …
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Writing memoir – so what?
At the Northwestern Summer Writer’s Conference today, Michele Weldon, in Your Narrative: Writing Your Story, gave us a nearly three-hour pep talk on why writing our personal stories is important. With a Power Point presentation, she addressed memoir essentials, starting with how to narrow down our ideas, then walking us through craft elements such as …
A Final Farewell to Borders
My love affair with Borders bookstore on State Street in Chicago came to an end the other day when I spent the last of my gift card on the purchase of four books. It took me two hours of roaming to isolate the four that spoke to me the most. And then I still spent …
Cremekulas No More at Borders Bookstore on State
On Tuesday a sign said the cafe would close on Friday. So I went today, Thursday, for my last vanilla bean cremekula. A makeshift barrier greeted me. Closed. I stood in silence, shocked. Sick at heart. I'd planned my day around this nostalgic moment. I left the store, feeling sad, but with two more bottles …
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A Retired Nurse Remembers
"Where were you the day that Kennedy died?" my dinner guest asked me recently. I wondered why she wanted to know, but, as most of us who were alive then, I could remember exactly. "Sitting at my sister's kitchen table, " I said. "I know you weren't at work that night. And I missed you." …
Nurse Heal Thyself
In 2000, the summer after I retired from teaching nursing, I took my first writing course. It was with Carol LaChapelle at the Newberry Library in Chicago. She assigned us to write a character sketch. I had no idea what that was. As she went on to explain, I thought, Oh, that's just a head …
Fire Safety — A Nurse Grandma’s Scare
The next time you’re moaning about having to attend a mandatory fire safety program, interrupting your day, at your workplace, think about this story. The other night I was babysitting for my daughter’s two children under two on the 13th floor of a high rise her family was renting for vacation. I was burping the …
2011 Printers Row Lit Fest
If you’re a reader and/or a writer, you would love the free, two-day Printers Row Lit Fest, the largest literary event in the Midwest, sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. Read details here. With 200 booksellers, 7 stages, and more than 100 free literary events, I spent an evening scouring the schedule in the Tribune’s insert, …
Write Along with Me 