Aging Parents
We All Need Mermaids
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, my 82-year-old mom goes to swim class. Of course, moving her body is good for her health. But perhaps even more important is the chance to see her friends. It’s a playdate for her. These women have been swimming together for years....
Reflections on Aging, Love and Letting Go
There I was, quietly sobbing on a plane. Exit row. No one beside me. Just a pile of damp Kleenex and the blur of tears clouding my view out the window. I had just finished “When Cranes Fly South” on my flight home from visiting my son and his fiancée. It’s a tender,...
Parenting Mom and Dad in the Sunset Years
Last Sunday I did my mom’s grocery shopping. We usually run her errands on Fridays but I was gone and had not seen her in a few days. I went to Safeway and then asked if she wanted me to grab her lunch too. We decided on sandwiches and she asked if I planned to stay...
Dear Me
Dear 56 year-old-me, Everyone writes letters to their younger self or their older self but I want to write a letter to who I am today. Who I am right now. Who I will be when I wake up tomorrow. It is hard to believe you’re rounding the corner and closer to sixty than...
The Journey of Grief
I couldn’t sleep the other night. I tossed and turned all night, unsure why I felt so uneasy and unsettled. Something was off and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I looked at my photo archives and it validated what I wondered. One year ago was the last day I saw...
True Goodness Makes No Noise
When good meets good, you create magic. I took my mom to visit my Dad this weekend. It’s her first Christmas in almost 60 years without him. She wanted to visit, sit with him, share what’s been happening, and tell him how much she misses him. We arrived at the...
IYKYK
In March I joined the club no one wants to be in. It’s the club for those who lost a parent. It’s for those with a loss that hits you in your bones, a profound sense of emptiness that only those who have experienced it can understand. You can’t be in it until you’re...
A Business Trip To Remember
It’s a business trip I told my husband. I was leaving for the beach but not to go relax or rejuvenate. I had a job to do. In July, my mom asked me to chaperone her to her 60th high school class reunion. She’s a proud member of the Class of 1962, Laguna Beach High...
Appreciating The Gift of Time
Today is my mom’s 77 th birthday. She is 77 years young. Yesterday we took her for a birthday lunch. We had to work it around my boy’s summer football schedule and go at 2pm. No complaints from Nana. I could have told her lunch was at 10 pm and she would have said...
Her Brain Might Forget This Day But I Know Her Heart Won’t
My mom is in a hard season of life. Her memory is no longer what it used to be. She knows what is happening and it's hard for her. A retired schoolteacher and principal, she’s a smart and well-read lady. She forever thirsted for more knowledge and always wanted to...
