I have been away from my home in Colorado for almost 3 weeks. During that time, stress has often been my companion. I drove to SLC as soon as my brother called to tell me that Mom’s condition was quickly declining. That was November 11th. I was able to care for her and be with…

I vowed to never miss writing a new blog post each Sunday. And then last Sunday, my beautiful Mom passed away. Writing those words and reading back over them feels like I’m writing about someone else. But I’m not. Someday I’ll write more about the events of that Sunday. But not yet. What started 2.5…

Mom is increasingly uncomfortable. Hospice has provided the drugs that will help her.  The nurse said we need to take over her medications, that mom isn’t remembering to take them regularly. So while my brother and his wife are at work, I’m on call to decide when is the right time to give her the…

Last week our city was hit with an unusual October blizzard and when it was over one of our cats was missing. My youngest daughter was devastated and shed many tears imagining the worse had happened and that we’d never see Gemma again. Almost every time I FaceTime with my mom I wake her up…

I enjoy a good closet cleaning session. I pull everything out and make a big pile. Then I carefully decide which items are going back in the closet. I’m a believer in the “keep, toss, donate” method. Those red loafers from 20 years ago – TOSS. The pants that never really fit right, DONATE. My…

It’s been 3 months since I pulled into the driveway after a morning of playing tennis. My phone rang just as I put the car in park. My brother Jon was on the other end of the line. “Hi”, he said, “there’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just get right to it.…

We’re going to have a wedding! My oldest daughter and her boyfriend got engaged on Friday. When Matt called us a month ago to let us know he was going to propose, I cried. “She’s the one” he told us. I was sworn to secrecy and its officially been the longest month of my life.…

I had no intention of a “Part 2” to the post I wrote a couple of weeks ago, until I  visited Mom again, kind of spur of the moment, a few days ago. As explained, visiting Mom means walking Lola, her Golden Doodle. I had this amazing experience on the final day of my last…

I was on the phone with my oldest daughter on the evening of her birthday shortly after we had moved into a new (to us) home. It was a very exciting time. It’s a long story, but this was OUR home, as in, we now had our OWN mortgage. I have never been so happy…

My mom owns a Golden-Doodle named Lola. Lola and I have a rocky relationship. To begin with, I’ll be honest,  I’m not crazy about dogs and also, because my mom bought Lola about a week before she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I associate her existence with that painful time. Many of us in the…