I have so much to say today and so little time. Starting yesterday, I've had over twenty phone calls. The only thing good about that was my daughter had left her phone in her car and somehow my phone made its way into her hand, and she operates quickly, so each time it rang, she …
Tag: writing
Adventure on Holy Ground #2
I've been home from the hospital since last Thursday, but I'm been awake only a fraction of that time Both the palliative care nurses and nurse friends impressed on me the importance of pain management, so being the good little do-be that I am I've taken my med every four hours, followed immediately by an …
Catching up! A Repeat Chicago Trip and a Move
I'm happy to repost my friend Marianna's account of our recent Chicago weekend. We had to repeat last year's trip to Printers Row Lit Fest, minus my face plant on Michigan Avenue, so we'd replace the unpleasant memories of that earlier trip. We had a marvelous time! Back to Chicago: A Second Chance My friend Lois …
Continue reading Catching up! A Repeat Chicago Trip and a Move
Black Plastic Glasses and Other Blessings
Summer time, especially today with overcast skies, merits a trip into family nostalgia. Look what I found on an old external hard drive: A delightful sibling memory! From the file: Lois Roelofs/Stories//10-25-2001 You have to meet my sister Rose. She can change your life if you’re not careful. Recently, I made a major career …
Life at 82: M is for Marv
Who or what else could M be for? None other than my late husband. Especially since I’m writing this at O’Hare on my layover home from Michigan. It’s about a 3000-step walk from where we landed to the distant concourse and gate that will take me home to SD. I’ve picked out just three of …
Marv Taking Charge (in AZ)
With Marv at Desert Palms Presbyterian Church - 2/11/2018, days after his diagnosis When I'm in AZ at my son's home, I still attend the church that Marv and I found online when we were in this area before: Desert Palms Presbyterian Church in Sun City West. A few weeks ago, with an invitation and …
Growing Older – On Turning 82
Thinking about turning 82 is both positive and negative. The positive part, of course, is that I’m still alive. I’ve outlived several classmates who’d be the same age. I’m still able to walk and talk and see and hear and smell and taste and feel. I do not take these capabilities for granted. But I …
AWP – A Writer’s Dream Vacation
I'm attending the AWP Conference & Bookfair for three days this week. Long days! AWP stands for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. Sessions are 75 minutes long, back-to-back all day. They're held at the Chicago Hilton and the Palmer House Hilton. Shuttles run between these two ornately beautiful hotels As a nurse, I've …
Remember HIPAA when on FACEBOOK
“Just got home. Two hours late! A nightmare of a night shift. Admissions, post-ops, and then a code. And who came to help? A new intern who didn’t know beans. Heading to the beach now to sleep in peace.” I’m exaggerating a bit (I hope), but posts almost like this have crept into our social …
Another Reason to Write Memoir
Do you think your life is too humdrum for a memoir? Dave Eggers, in The Autobiographer's Handbook1, emphasizes one reason you should write: "…because you will someday die, and without your story on paper, most of it will be forgotten." (p. 1) He says we strive to preserve the world's history from antiquity on for …
Write Along with Me 