What I remember: I awoke to my mother’s presence in my room, telling me: “Daddy had another heart attack; this time he’s not coming home.”
Most of the rest is a blur. Continue reading
What I remember: I awoke to my mother’s presence in my room, telling me: “Daddy had another heart attack; this time he’s not coming home.”
Most of the rest is a blur. Continue reading
A young father walked into the physical therapy office with his toddler son, and I wondered how he would keep the boy amused throughout a therapy session. Had be brought crayons, perhaps? Would he hand the boy a mobile phone for play?
Minutes later, as I started my own therapy, I heard the little guy giggling and burbling. I turned and saw him walking a treadmill, his dad behind, holding his hands.
A few more minutes, and they were walking back and forth through the open room, a therapist keeping pace and repeating, “heel, toe; heel, toe; heel, toe.”
This tiny, beautiful boy. Undergoing physical therapy. So sweet. So heartbreaking. Continue reading
I’ve just finished taking a New Year’s Eve walk with Lillian Boxfish.
I know it’s not yet New Year’s Eve. Ms. Boxfish is the title character in Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, by Chicago author Kathleen Rooney. Ms. Boxfish loves walking through Manhattan, where she has lived for nearly 60 years, and she unexpectedly spends her New Year’s Eve (1984 into 1985) tromping through the city she loves, instead of curled up in bed falling asleep with a book as she had planned. Continue reading
The Full Cold Moon chaperoned the winter solstice, rare but unseen, veiled by clouds. Three nights later, waning and shy, it donned a lacy veil to peek through branches in the Christmas Eve sky. Tonight, for Christmas, it presents itself proudly on a clear black backdrop, a glowing prophet in the night. Continue reading
On the shortest day of the year I awoke with good intentions.
I made a point of noticing the world around me at the start of the day:
Bunnies are safely harbored out of sight, out of reach, out of danger from my patrolling dogs. A siren screams in the distance. I hope everyone will be alright.
— Kim Kishbaugh (@kkish) December 21, 2018
I fed my dogs, read the news and got down to business. Continue reading