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'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 →

My favorite person in the world right now is my 2.5-year-old grandson. Creepy as it sounds, I'm in Nana love and, unlike the normal infatuation adults go through, this isn't wearing off even though we’re technically past the honeymoon phase. This has come as quite a shock to me because throughout my daughter’s pregnancy, I … Continue reading The Nana-Love drug →

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 →