My husband adores TikTok. Whenever he finds a short video he thinks I’d like, he texts it to me. During a recent rough patch, he got in the habit of texting me a funny video first thing in the morning. Since he gets up before me, he could do it before I was awake. I’d...
As a lifelong watcher of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I caught Paula Abdul’s song and dance performance on the Jennie-O float. She performed her song “Straight Up,” which was released in 1988. There’s lots of praise for Abdul. Other people are noting the flaws in her lip-synching, the doctored sound on her tap routine,...
I had a weird thought this week . . . with all the talk about “finding your true self” and all the books and methods that teach you how to do that, what if finding your true self is as simple as setting aside a few days to be totally alone and see who you...
A friend was telling me about a specific regret she has regarding a family member. It surfaces now and then, and when it does, it loops through her head all day. She knows it’s not “healthy” to dwell on that regret, since there’s nothing that can be done about it now, but she can’t help...
The other day, my daughter eagerly showed me a hat her friend had knitted for her. “Isn’t it cool, Mom?” she said. “She made it for me.” This past fall, I hired an artist to do a drawing of my house. With her permission, I made copies for my kids as their Christmas presents. Sure,...
The other day, I was meeting with one of my women’s groups. We’re all getting to know each other really well, and one woman asked a pretty deep question. Another said, “Wow. You’re asking us to be pretty vulnerable.” And then we each answered, from the heart, and with faith that we would face no...