Did you know that “the monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind”? Albert Einstein said that, and I can attest that it’s true. During the last three months after surgery, I spent a lot of time alone in my living room sitting on a new recliner. The longer I sat, the …
Category: humor
Graduation from Patienthood — Pending!
Two weeks ago I asked you for help staying sane while I try to meet my goal of being cured in a few weeks. I have good news. I'm closer than ever before. I've almost got my pain managed, and I'm allowed to wean myself off the walker in the house. I'm on my way! …
Incoherent Ramblings After Having Surgery for a Hip Replacement and Removal of Hardware, Followed by a Hip Fracture
Your surgical experience will be unique. Therefore, sift through what others tell you about their experiences, salt those accounts away, and don’t take them out of your experience cupboard unless you find them useful to your situation. There is nothing to be gained by lamenting you are doing more poorly than the rest of the …
Grief at Four Years Means a Cookie Sheet in the Bed
my caregiver daughter and photographer Every year on the anniversary of my husband’s death, I have dedicated a blog post to that event. Marv passed away four years ago on July 25, and I’ve not had a minute to mindfully think about the impact of his loss in my life. On July 25, Monday, I …
Continue reading Grief at Four Years Means a Cookie Sheet in the Bed
Throwing Away My Past Life: Part 2 (Hard!)
Some things from my boxes I can't throw away. Yet. I was doing fine with my purge until the final box labeled jobs/MS/PhD. In other words, my nursing career and advanced degrees in nursing. As I paged through the piles of papers I had saved, every memory came springing back. piles Job application letters, letters …
Throwing Away My Past Life
Terri Lee (worth a lot now online!) and Baby (who cries) George Burns once said, "You know you're getting old when you stoop down to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there." This idea has been part of my life since late last fall when I developed hip …
The day my garage door broke…
I purged my closet of twenty-seven items. Does this “first line” grab your attention? Do you want to know more? Do you wonder if there’s a correlation between these two events? Is this something you even care to read about? The goal for first lines is to keep the reader reading. Read the first lines …
Signature Dish
I'm having a miniature identity crisis and desperately need the help of a few of you readers. I was invited last week to a meet and greet on the block of my Arizona home. The hostess said we could bring a small something to share or not. I certainly didn't want to be not only …
The Fun of Memoir Writing
If you've never taken a class on writing about your own life, you are missing out on some fun stuff. Yes, some material from your life may be painful to write, but a lot of things are fun to recollect. To help you remember, writing teachers come to class armed with "prompts" to jog your …
Turkeys and Drains – Never Say Never!
"If Darlene can do it, surely I can," I told myself last week. I was recalling a time I dropped in at my church to find a pair of legs peeking out from under an open lower cabinet door in the kitchen. I came closer and saw our octogenarian, unofficial, in-charge-of-church-kitchen woman halfway under the …
Write Along with Me 