• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

DON'T MISS!

I've written hundreds and hundreds of posts over the years. To help you find your way to the best of the best, I've tagged my favorites "Don't Miss!" Scroll down here to find them.

Another way to locate Riffs on Life that you might enjoy is to click above on your favorite category – "My Ever-Changing Family," perhaps, or "Funny Button." You can also use the search box located way up top to hunt for stories by topic. There's fun reading at "garden," "aging," "kids" and, of course, "Jon."

What Do You Say When Someone Dies?

November 6, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

condolence-cards

What do you say when someone dies? How to console a friend? There’s not much you can say do do — except to just be there.  Read more.

Halloween — A Day for the Dead

October 30, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

Halloween-a-day-for-the-dead scary-mask

In the spirit of Día de Muertos, I’m making this Halloween a day for the dead: I’m publishing a story or two told about Jon at his interment.  Read more.

Widowed: Who Will Look After Me Now That Jon Is Gone?

October 23, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 18 Comments

Farmers-market

Jon was the one I could count on for rides to car repair shops and colonoscopies. Who will look after me now?  Read more.

Widowed: ‘What Is Grief, If Not Love Persevering?’

October 16, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments

jon-newhall-on-his-deck

“What is grief, if not love persevering?” — that’s from the TV miniseries “WandaVision.” A nice thought. But I’m not there yet.  Read more.

Widowed: I’m Planting a Secret Garden Outside My Office

October 9, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

secret-garden-space

My husband is gone, but I’m hoping that planting a secret garden outside my door will give me living things to keep me company as I work.  Read more.

Widowed: Do I Stay or Do I Move?

October 2, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments

widowed do I stay or do I move and how about these stairs-for-seniors

Have I turned into one of those stubborn old women who refuses to leave her house?  Read more.

Widowed: We Buried My Husband Last Week

September 25, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 18 Comments

we-buried-my-husband

I worried that I would let Jon down. I worried that this last thing I could do for him would fall short and I would fail him.  Read more.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 20
  • Page 21
  • Page 22
  • Page 23
  • Page 24
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 80
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Autumn in the Garden, When Sensible Plants Pack It In for the Winter . . . And a Healing Ankle

Autumn in the garden where, like it or not, the seasons impose their wills on every living thing. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It was autumn in the garden and all the grim stuff that happens as winter sets in — death, rot, shrivel and retreat — made for a thing of beauty. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

A copy of Barbara Falconer Newhall's paperback book Wrestling with God and the author. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It’s Here! A Copy of “Wrestling with God” Has Arrived

outdoor-dancing-studio

Widowed: Dancing Makes Me Cry.

comedian-zelensky-in-servant-of-the-people

Zelensky’s TV Show — What ‘Servant of the People’ Says About Ukraine

singer-songwriter-jaspar-lepak

Women — Can They Have It All?

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2025 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in