Part of the emotional upheaval of being a widow last year included the financial issues I had to face, including having to endure will probates both in the U.S. and the U.K., because my deceased husband, Mike, was a U.K. citizen. This meant he filed both U.S. and U.K. tax returns, at different times during […]

During my childhood, and throughout the years, friendships, relationships, were daily essentials. We had fun riding bikes, playing kickball and hanging out with my dog Blackie. Blackie was my 15-year-old loyal companion. One stormy night, on his ritual bedtime trip outside, my still-haunted memory was his long stare back at me, which would be our […]

I was in New Jersey for my 50th Morris Catholic High School Class of 1966 reunion. I’d heard that my “high school hero” was in an Alzheimer’s home. Back in the day, Bob was older, wiser – the coolest of the cool. He drove the hottest, baddest ’55 Chevy. His brothers warned me of his […]

“The Last Time” … This is actually a provocative half statement in that it does leave one dangling in midair, or in this case, mid-sentence, but maybe that is exactly what it is supposed to do: Make you think! Well, here goes something! The last time I felt as uncertain and anxious about life as […]

When my boyfriend said, “You’ll never get near him,” it raised my hackles and heightened my determination. He was coming to Baltimore, on a campaign stop at the Emerson Hotel. Carefully, I chose my outfit for the event: white gloves, pearl earrings, low heels, a green floral print dress with its wide self-belt. Driving my […]

I stood at the window on Easter, watching the chickadees in last fall’s garden, when my great-grandmother suggested that I choose a book to take outside and read on the grass. As she filled my arms with a yellow print bedspread to sit on, I grabbed a pen. Gramma handed me a small, old book […]

My father always said, “Dreams go to die in Calais.” But I wanted a fresh start, and saw it as a place I could find my footing. In January, I started working at my step-grandmother’s diner. My father’s mother died when he was young, and Karen entered the picture far before I was born. Since […]

I retired from a 40-plus-year career in broadcasting on March 27, and it was the last time I had to get up “in the middle of the night” (2 or 3 a.m.) to go to work. I was enthralled by the job as a very young child and was able to follow it through. At […]