How music eases me into the holidays

The holiday season has landed with both feet, as it does every year. I wish I could say this with more warmth and cheer, but the truth is that the lead-up to Christmas always makes me a feel a little crazy. I know I’ll get up to speed soon, and by December 20th or so […]

A place of spirit and community

Sunday morning dawned cool, breezy and drizzly, but even before we knew it wasn’t going to be a great day for outside chores, Douglas and I had decided to go to church. “It’s been months,” Douglas had said the night before, as we settled gratefully into bed with the cat and the weekend paper. “No […]

Moving on after a death in the family

I recently lost a beloved member of my family. At 46, she was much too young to die. Though we had known of her incurable cancer for months and prepared for the inevitable, the end came suddenly, and too soon. The burden is great for her mother, who lost another daughter to cancer few years […]

Life lessons stay relevant as life changes

I was delighted to have the opportunity recently to speak to a group of nursing students at the University of Maine. It gave me a chance to touch base with some important, defining transitions in my own life and to advocate for two of my personal passions: public health and the news media. I enjoy […]

Small items pack big meaning and memory

  I was very close to my former mother-in-law, Mary Louise, and so grateful we were able to re-establish our loving relationship after the end of my 30-year-marriage to her only son and his tragic death in an accident a little over a year later. There’s nothing like a contentious divorce to tear a family […]