Family

Son’s Determination!

The tragic story of Mary Isherwood — Mary was so excited to go on her one-week vacation. But, she found herself trapped in an airing cupboard the same day she arrived. It was late at night. Mary yelled, banged, and tried to scratch her way out of the cupboard. All to no avail. “Being unable to turn…

A way to manage complexity and pain — Six years ago, I used the image above of a mother bird and her fledgling for a collection of pieces that were part of a series I was creating. I asked contributors to share one lesson — only one — they learned from their mother that had made all the…

I want to live in Florida, at least most of the time. But I want to be with my kids, too, and no way can they afford living here. — Ok, here I go, probably inappropriately spilling all the beans about my family and me because I have no one to talk to besides you guys. Down here in the sunshine state (it’s storming like crazy outside), I don’t have my kids to keep me company while Ray, the master…

They’re calling a trash truck straight away — “Your home is living space, not storage space.”― Francine Jay I am not worried that my kids will throw away my good stuff when I die. They most certainly will. I watched a friend dispose of her mother’s things after her mom passed away. Her mom died a few years…

Or on bigotry, homophobia, or sexism. I expect more of you. — If your family and extended families are anything like mine, you know what it’s like to have a racist, bigoted, sexist, homophobic, or xenophobic family member. Maybe several. Perhaps a number of them have terrible views about all five things I just mentioned. Some feel that you never should turn…

I’m not sure how to answer this question. I am going to present this back to the reader and let him or her decide. As a dad, I tried to be a disciplinarian but not too harsh. My wife always was there to rein me in. I’ll start with a…