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For the Remaining 88 Percent

Sep 30 2014

In my last post “Twelve Percent of You Really Need to Read This Post” (September 25, 2014), I wrote briefly about what to say when someone confides they are struggling with infertility. As I thought more about it and received some feedback, I’d like to expand on what I said. We humans want to fix problems. We become uncomfortable with the unfamiliar. That’s just the way we are. And when a loved one comes to us revealing a painful ordeal, we want to help and make things better. But some things we cannot change or influence and infertility is one…

Sep 25 2014

Actually everyone should read this post. But of course, I am a bit biased. No. More than a bit. Twelve percent of couples struggle with the inability to conceive naturally. That number may seem small. But even smaller is the number of women who break the silence on their sadness and frustration. So when someone has the courage to broach the painful topic of infertility, it can be an awkward conversation. For example, the course of three days I learned a new friend is expecting her first baby, another friend delivered her second baby, and yet another is facing…infertility. The…

Several Thousand “Octibels” Above the Ground

Sep 23 2014

Not unlike many infants, my younger son at six months old had a penchant for squealing. His whole body shook with unbridled glee as he opened his little mouth wide and let loose, eyes shining with the head-ringing volume he attained. As proud as he was, and even though he was making the happiest of infant sounds, few others were as pleased as he was at his ability. Case in point: the crabby fellow air traveler who had the nerve to tell me he didn’t like being seated next to a mother and her baby on an airplane. So…

It’s OK to be Cliche

Sep 18 2014

Be grateful for everything you have. I was reminded of that recently after learning some tragic news about an admired acquaintance. I took pause to enumerate all that is good in my life. I have my health. I have a marriage to a wonderful man that has lasted more than twenty years. I have three exuberant, healthy children that can drive me nuts (yes, that is a blessing!). Then post-reflection I checked my email and began, almost reflexively, stewing about some thing and some one and some situation that was described in the time-suck that is my inbox. How…

I’m Having a Baby, Why Doesn’t Anyone Believe Me? (a Semi-Deconstructed Parody)

Sep 16 2014

This is a true story (except for the fancy driving and the UZI-wielding). The people are real. The conversations actually took place. Importantly, my husband can vouch for it in entirety. And he is relieved beyond belief I have written this because he thinks I need the whole experience out of my system. In composing this post I attempted, with “bracketed” statements, to dissect the story into elements of a screenplay…just for the fun of it. But this is otherwise a work of nonfiction as there’s no way I have the talent to make this stuff up…

The September 2014 Book is Not About a Lot of Things

Sep 09 2014

My husband is a TED talk devotee. I try to remember TED even exists. Don’t get me wrong, I think Technology, Entertainment and Design is an amazing resource. I just rely on my husband to funnel the most intriguing talks my way. One evening, he was insistent we watch one in particular that featured writer Jennifer Senior. She opened her lecture with how the parenting section in a chain bookstore is overwhelmingly stocked with volumes on how to raise the “right” kid and the crisis these overladen shelves symbolize. By the way, Jennifer Senior has published a book. But it…

The Itchy Trigger Finger

Sep 03 2014

I came across this quote the other day from one of my favorite comediennes: If you are creating anything at all, it’s really dangerous to care about what people think. ~Kristen Wiig And not even a week prior I tuned in to an episode of the tv show Glee on in-flight entertainment. Not being privy to the goings-on at McKinley High, the premise was out of context but a statement by Idina Menzel’s character to daughter Rachel was not: No one achieves success by playing it safe. I may not have her words exactly right but that was the gist of her message. And…

The Next Challenge

Aug 27 2014

I get the urge to sort and surrender about every other month. When it seems our house is overrun by “stuff,” I grab a box and get to work. Then the kids discover the collected past-treasures and realize they can’t live without the coloring book or stuffed animal or two-sizes-too-small t-shirt I have deemed for donation. They haven’t given those items a mere thought in months but a newfound awareness of their presence makes these things dearer than life itself. Awareness is powerful. The recent “Ice Bucket Challenge” for ALS is a recent prime example of how knowledge can make…

But It Smells Good!

Jul 29 2014

We stash it in the glovebox, in our backpacks and handbags. There’s a ginormous jug of it sitting in our kids’ classrooms at school. Stores sell it in mouthwatering scents (cucumber melon!). And it gives us piece of mind that with each squirt we are protecting our children from illness. Not necessarily. The newspaper often goes from our driveway directly to the recycle bin because the content is just plain depressing. However, I happened to pick through it recently and immediately catching my eye was the headline: Hand sanitizers dirty record; let soap do the job We all know good…

Beautifully Sad

Jul 22 2014

A friend on Facebook posted this sad yet beautiful quote recently and I couldn’t get it out of my head. We have all suffered loss, or if we haven’t we will at some time. The loss can be a death in the family, a breakup, or having to give up a pet. In any circumstance of a loss, this quote embodies guidance, reassurance and hope: “The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around…

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