Author Archive: Nancy
Losing Control
This week the carpenter came to do some repairs. The dogs did their typical thing. Theo was all over the carpenter, insisting on attention and constant petting. Henry stood four feet behind the guy, barking his silly protective head off. Which one was annoying? Both, of course. Too much love gets in the way of …
Sisters, Secrets, And The Junior Prom
Someone (many think it was Dorothy Parker) once said, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” That’s not me. I love writing. The part I hate is … well, every other part. Editing – grammar, spelling, punctuation. Formatting, covers, blurbs. Proofreading, followed by more editing. And, oh my God, the horrible waiting in between …
Poetry And Poverty
Louise Gluck has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. I am familiar with the name. I had to re-familiarize myself with her poetry. Life moves from poetry to prose. In high school and college, Poetry saturated me. I have been searching for a better word than saturate. But that’s the one. Poetry surrounded me …
Cheating
I confess. I like computer games. I do crossword puzzles and play Gin and Cribbage and even the dreaded Candy Crush. A few years ago, I played a lot of online Scrabble. But after a while, I got very frustrated with all the cheating. I knew that some of my competitors were using apps that …
Justice Ruth
We grieve for folkswe never metwhen we knowthey lived their livesin kindness,when their souls were so brightthey lit the pathfor your own soulto find its way. Thank you, Justice Ruth.
The Junior Prom
My high school sweetheart died last week. Sweetheart is the perfect way to describe Greg. He was sweet and all heart. The suddenness of his passing (a heart attack) left everyone who knew him with a hole in their lives that they were unprepared to accept. Less than a year ago, my graduating class attended …
Worrying About My Heroes
I need hero protection. To get me through this pandemic and these divisive insane times, I have been painting a series of portraits of people I admire. I call them my Hero Portraits. My first few portraits were relatively easy picks. They are people for whom my belief is so strong, my confidence in their …
Expertise
As I was trying on outfits the other day – for God knows what reason, I have nowhere on earth to go – a sweet memory surfaced – also from God knows where. I attended a parochial grammar school, where I wore the typical Catholic school uniform. Navy jumper, white blouse, little navy bowtie. Oh …
Other People’s Squabbles
A little while back, I violated three of my own friendship rules. I was friends (and still am, I hope) with Edie, a woman who was often at odds with her adult daughter, Fran. We’d meet quite often for lunch, or shopping, or Yoga, or just coffee, and she’d give me her ‘upset smile.’ (We …
