What I’m grateful for, what I’m jazzed and excited about today, are the small things that have gone right for me lately: A clean oven, freshly washed windows, and a new steppingstone path for the garden — all in time for Thanksgiving. See more.
My Ever-Changing Family
Meet my changing, shrinking, growing family. Here you'll find stories of married life, little kids, grown-up kids, the empty nest, cousins and ancestors, aging parents, and the view from the second half of life.
Will Our Kids Grow Up to Be Cheaters Like Lance Armstrong?
Will my kids grow up to be cheaters? Is it possible to raise honest children in this Pete Rose-Bernie Madoff world — where something like 50 percent of students admit to cheating? Read More
Belief Is Seriously Overrated — You Don’t Have to Be a Believer to Believe
Some of my family members were uneasy at the thought of standing up at my mother’s memorial mass to read from the Bible, a document they didn’t believe in. I told them I thought belief was seriously overrated.
When Your Kids Don’t Fight — Enough
My children do not tease each other like the normal sibling pair. They are nice to each other. I worry. Where did Jon and I go wrong?
A Case of the Human Condition: Am I Scotch?* Or Midwestern?
Genealogically speaking, I’m not that far removed from Scotland. My father’s father was born near Glasgow. But the complex – presumably – set of beliefs and customs he and his parents brought with them to the shores of Lake Michigan in 1873 are lost to me now. Tartans have given way to Levi’s. Haggis has succumbed to pizza and Chinese take-out. When I think about where I come from, I do not think of Scotland. I think of Michigan. Read More.
My Mother’s Goneness
My mother is gone, but when she died, she left a few things behind — a battered old purse, a small sofa she liked to call the loveseat. Read more.
A (Lengthy) Case of the Human Condition: Married 35 Years
Jon Newhall and I have been married for 35 years today. Two kids, one house and lots of rewarding jobs later, we seem to be in it for the long haul. Read more.