Resilience defines these graduates

/
Resilience defines these graduates

My friend Anne says do not compare. I will say that I am sad about something and that I shouldn’t be because what do I have to be sad about? Other people have bigger reasons to feel sad, and really I need to buck up, and count my blessings. Things could be worse.

And she will tell me this: Sad is sad. It is not a contest. Don’t measure it. Just acknowledge it.

Read More

I found joy in the garden, following my mother’s path

/
I found joy in the garden, following my mother’s path

It goes back to my mother. Almost everything does. My mother is why I love black-and-white movies and Rosemary Clooney and show tunes and big, gaudy hats, though I look awful in them. Why I make Irish bread with caraway seeds. Why I thought, and think still, that no one will ever take the place of Johnny Carson. Why I don’t put new shoes on a table. Why, to this day, I wish upon the first star.

Read More

How a not-so-perfect cooking pan became a lesson in our lives

/
How a not-so-perfect cooking pan became a lesson in our lives

The pan was not exactly a thing of beauty even when it was new, but it was comely, emerging from its box exactly as described: “perfectly balanced … premium materials … beautifully designed.”

My husband held it with both hands as if it were a chalice, then raised it over his head to admire it from all angles. It was a consecration. Only the bells were missing.

Read More