Holiday traditions come in two flavors. There are those popular traditions like decorating a tree or putting out the Christmas lights. Perhaps the more important traditions are the second variety–the traditions arising from within one’s own family. After all, the holidays are best celebrated with our families, either those born into or those we create.…
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(Author’s Note) In honor of former President Trump, who has “endured more than any other president in the history of the United States of America,” I thought we should share stories of other presidents who’ve endured challenges. Today’s entry: President John F. Kennedy. It’s easy to reduce John F. Kennedy’s role in history to his…
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(Author’s Note) In honor of former President Trump, who has “endured more than any other president in the history of the United States of America,” I thought we should share stories of other presidents who’ve endured challenges. Today’s entry: President Theodore Roosevelt. By 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt had made himself into something of a…
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Or: Lessons Learned from Ancient Rome In 27 BCE, the naval and land forces of Roman consul Octavian clashed with those loyal to Mark Antony and his Egyptian ally, Cleopatra. They met in the waters and on the lands around the Greek city of Actium, and the results were decisive, bringing an end to a…
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Alyssa and I were nestled tightly together on the sofa, watching Bridgerton and waiting patiently. At 11:50 p.m., I removed a bottle of Korbel from the refrigerator and popped the cork. At 11:55, I poured two glasses and sat them on the table. All the while, Miss Bridgerton and the Duke danced in the background. When…
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With apologies to Señor Garcia Marquez Every year since I moved to Tennessee, sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving, I’ve undertaken what has become an annual rite, a pilgrimage to the local doc-in-a-box for a steroid shot, a Z-pak, and a course of prednisone. This ritual comes courtesy of genes that despise ragweed, genes that rebel…
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Or: How Little Mama Inspired Visions of a Glittering Future When I was about 12, my grandmother and I were sitting in the sunroom playing Gin and chatting. Memories of the subject of our conversation — the what or, more likely, the who — is a long-dead casualty to time. What I do remember, though, is…
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Or: How backing into my parking space, making my bed every morning, and a Sunday frittata saved my life. Writing is a strange vocation to pick up. You take words — the things you and I use in conversation every day, whether we’re cajoling our kids (I’m looking at you, oh precious daughter o’ mine)…
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I don’t remember when I first discovered Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14.”Death and the Maiden” was Schubert’s testament to the process of dying. He had fallen ill, apparently, and he wrote #14. If you’ve never heard it, you can listen to it here. It’s a remarkable piece of music, if only because the tumultuous Allegro…
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Or: After 10 years, “Untitled” has a name I don’t remember how long it was after 9/11 that I first I saw Richard Drew’s “Falling Man,” the stark, frightening image of a single individual plummeting down the face of the World Trade Center. What I do remember is how remarkably this one image captured…
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