One Family’s Journey into Alzheimer’s – Keeper, by Andrea Gillies
If you want to know what it’s like to live with someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, read Keeper: One House, Three Generations, and a Journey into Alzheimer’s, by Andrea Gillies. Gillies, a British author, and her family took her in-laws into their home when the older couple could no longer live independently. Her mother-in-law Nancy had […]
Photo Finishes
One of the challenges in writing this blog is finding pictures to suit each post. I’ve read that adding pictures to a blog makes it much more attractive to readers, so I have tried to include images of some type with most posts. Many of my pictures come from Microsoft clipart, which has thousands of […]
Walking and Weapons and Children’s Personalities
I’ve been thinking a lot about walking recently, because of my daughter’s broken leg. Her accident and recuperation have brought to mind the days when she and her older brother learned to walk. I learned a lot about my children watching them learn to walk. Neither of them walked until they were 14 or 15 […]
My Grandmother’s Thimble and Sewing Doll
In an earlier post, I mentioned my maternal grandmother’s thimble. Her initials – WS, for Winifred Strachan, her maiden name – are on the thimble. Her friends all called her Winnie, and I called her Nanny Winnie. Nanny Winnie kept house for her father and brothers after her mother died; my grandmother was still in […]
The Donner Party: Don’t Take Shortcuts and Hurry Along
One of the more sensational stories of the Oregon Trail is that of the Donner party, the group of emigrants to California in 1846 who were lost in snows in the Sierra Nevada mountains from November 1846 until March 1847, and allegedly resorted to cannibalism. As soon as their story became public, their tale became […]
Top Ten Lessons Learned about Blogging
I’ve been posting regularly (at least weekly) on this blog for a year now, and since May 2012 I’ve posted twice a week (on Mondays and Wednesdays). I’ve had some successes, but I also know I can improve. Here are the top ten lessons I’ve learned in the past year about blogging, as well as […]
My Mother’s 80th Birthday: The Meaning of Decades and of Days
I have mentioned before that my mother has Alzheimer’s. The last few years have been hard on our family, as we have watched her abilities decline. We recently moved her into an assisted living facility. Today, March 4, 2013, is her 80th birthday. We celebrate the milestone, while we reflect on what has been and […]
Urban Rain, Suburban Snow, Waiting for Spring
I just spent nearly three weeks caring for my daughter who broke her leg skiing. She lives in an urban neighborhood in Seattle. I’ve never lived in a truly urban environment, one with stores and restaurants within easy walking distance, so this was a new experience for me. While I was with my daughter, I walked […]
My Nook HD and Flipboard (My New Favorite App)
I wrote recently about my computer travails, which required me to purchase a new desktop computer and a laptop within just a few weeks of each other. I mentioned I also got a new e-reader – a Nook HD to replace my aging Nook Color. That has been a happier transition. I dropped my Nook […]
My Story to Appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Parenthood
My story, My Son Made Me Tweet, will appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Parenthood, which will be available on March 12, 2013. This book can be preordered through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. As the publisher’s description of this book says, parenthood is full of ups and downs, but there’s no shortage of […]