It wasn’t anything close to a felony. Even as misdemeanors go, it was pretty minor. Still, I didn’t want it forever on my record. Or, even worse, my conscience. My husband and I were returning home from an 800-mile road trip. I bought a cup of coffee at a gas stop along the way, and on my way out of the store, I glanced at a rack of maps and brochures—the kind of promotional and complimentary material found at many rest stops and convenience stores [...]
"I know that person. I can't quite place him, but I know him from somewhere." Has that ever happened to you? You're out and about, and you run into someone who looks very familiar, or that you know you've met - or at least seen before - but you just can't remember when or where. It happened to me last weekend, with a gentleman who was ushering and assisting at Mass. I was sure I knew him from somewhere else, but couldn't figure out where - which is strange, [...]
I’ve just joined a Garden Club. That is likely surprising – and humorous – news to many people who know me and know that I do not have a green thumb. About the only thing I’ve ever been able to grow successfully are herbs, most of which thrive on neglect. And they have the added benefit that you can eat them. Although it wasn’t one of our reasons for buying the house we now live in, I was ecstatic when I saw that the previous [...]
Some friends of ours were visiting for a few days. This is the couple who introduced my husband and me to each other some 40-plus years ago. I’ve known the wife since first grade, and the guys have known each other since working together during summer jobs in high school. My husband and I got married exactly one year after our friends did, and we were all in each other’s wedding parties. For many years we celebrated our anniversaries together. We often went camping together, [...]
I was on the treadmill at the health club when an elderly gentleman walked by and greeted a man who was on the treadmill next to me. “Trying to get in shape?” he asked him. “Just trying to stay alive,” his friend replied. This reminded me of a comic strip I saw once that pictured a doctor with a clipboard talking to an overweight man who had just completed a physical. The doctor glanced at his clipboard, then asked the man, “Which fits in better [...]
I had a dream the other night in which I got a phone call from a young man who was commenting on one of my recent columns. His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him, and he wouldn’t give me his name. He was very complimentary, and referenced other columns I had written over the years, so he was obviously either a long-time reader of my column, or someone I knew personally – or with whom I had crossed paths at some point. [...]
I accidentally bought a box of brownie mix, instead of chocolate cake mix, for a dessert I was planning to make. We got half-decaf – instead of full-strength coffee – by mistake, and didn’t realize it till we were making the first pot of coffee in a house filled with can’t-wake-up-without-it coffee drinkers. And just for good measure, it rained all afternoon and evening on Friday – starting just minutes after we got on the boat, planning to spend a few hours exploring the lake. [...]
A song has been running through my head for the past few days. Not the whole song, just one line. It’s from an old Beatles song, and goes: “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” I was 14 when the song first came out in 1967, so the lyrics weren’t really relevant to me. That never mattered. As with many popular songs, I knew all the words and could sing along with the radio, but never gave much thought [...]
We were just getting out of our car in the parking garage at the Atlanta Airport when I got the text message from my sister. “Have you left for the airport yet? Because we’re going to be late.” My sister and her son were coming to visit us for a long weekend, and we were picking them up at the airport. But after they had boarded their plane in Chicago, a minor problem was discovered with a cargo door on their plane. Maintenance was still [...]
We flew to Chicago last weekend to visit my in-laws. Seated next to me on the plane was an elderly woman who reminded me of Rosa Parks. We became fast friends after I helped her with her seat belt, which was twisted in such a way that it wouldn’t fasten properly. She later returned the favor by helping me pull my tray table out of the armrest between us. We chatted, off and on, during the flight. I learned that she’s almost 91, that she’s [...]