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Bullying vs. Teasing
Within 20 minutes, I'd smoothly transitioned onto my fifth freeway, so locals can guess what day of the week it was and where I was. It was Saturday morning in central Orange County. I was headed from Irvine to Cal State Fullerton to attend the annual Stuttering...
The Great Recession
"The Great Recession officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, but it sure seemed longer" was the lead line of a story in the AARP (yes, I am old enough to be a member) Bulletin last month. I know, first hand, because I lost $16,000.00 when the state of...
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade marked my life with three events that vibrate in my heart and mind to this day. I wish I had a better eraser. I moved to a new school. Friends were hard to make. While I'd moved when I was two years old, then again when I was six, this one was more...
Stage 2b
I was working my network to be a back-up singer for John Mellencamp, another Hoosier transplant to crazy California, in 2005. I was giving it my best shot when it hit me: a cancer diagnosis on this date, that year. 'Twenty feet from stardom" was not going to be a life...
Blend an UPside
One of my friends has an ulcer, a condition now known to be a disease. She's on a medication that brings relief and cure; back in the day, it was diet-controlled 100%. I know because my family endured the dietary constraints of my father's ulcer treatment: bland and...
Open Heart
I've just returned from an echocardiogram appointment. The results were reassuring; especially because I am almost exactly one year older than my dad was when he had his first pacemaker installed. My dad died of a broken heart in 2008. The young technician was...
Blueberry Pancake
I began a new exercise class this summer: Pilates Mat. The plan: to develop my core muscles without injury to ankles or knees, as sometimes induced by yoga poses, to foster good posture and to ease back injuries. Besides I already had a mat. As I looked among the...
Time
I have an awesome internal clock. It's wowed family, friends, and strangers unerringly for years. I could have won sucker bets in bars if I chose. I ascribe it to 40 years of being a speech-language pathologist, where life is regimented into clinical sessions...
Crows vs. Parrots: round 1
Yesterday a famous parrot prompted a post. Today hearts are heavy as we commemorate the date that the invisible, invincible shield of America crashed to the ground, along with the Twin Towers and thousands of lives. Today I find a parallel natural event to post: a...
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