This past weekend, my eldest son and daughter-in-law came over to celebrate Mother's Day early with dinner and a competitive game of Forty-Two. Yesterday, my youngest daughter called and said she and her husband want to see me Sunday on Mother's Day. No doubt, my youngest son and eldest daughter will call me on the … Continue reading Mother’s day blessing and longing →

Every woman, they say, has a celebrity crush, and most are based on the object of said crush being really good looking to the "average" woman. According to various internet polls - so you know it must be true - men who fit in this category are Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper and Matthew McConaughey, although surely everyone knows … Continue reading Garden guy lust →

Yesterday, in my secret life as a detective, I walked into a local Starbucks, used the restroom, took a seat, scrolled through my phone for 10 minutes and then - gasp - left. Without buying anything. In spite of having $2.53 left on my Starbucks app and in spite of thinking an Americano would have … Continue reading Loitering in Starbucks →

Thirty-four years ago, I was a first-time mother barely surviving my liberated effort to “do it all”. I moved frantically from long days as a newspaper reporter into long nights of a colicky baby, trying to prove myself perfect in both arenas. I wanted to quit the job, but I was fighting the voices of … Continue reading How Erma saved me →

I get hit on by homeless men. Not hit by homeless men, which might make more sense because the guys hanging out around the transit center can sometimes be cantankerous. No, I mean what I said, hit on by homeless men, as in "Hey, baby, que paso? The passes come after I jump off the … Continue reading I’ve still got it →

I'm cutting up strawberries to break the fast of Good Friday and, because I'm thinking about everything except this exact moment in time, I find myself lifting a strawberry up to my mouth. Luckily, just before I pop it in, I remember: I'm fasting. And the sun is still high in the sky and, for … Continue reading What I learn from hunger →

It’s not hard to spot the drug addicts at my local public transit center: They all wear the same uniform of dark, dank and disheveled and they're almost always asking for money. So I knew as I walked toward a couple pacing by a bench, that they'd probably have a request. But I walked toward … Continue reading Opioid crisis up close →