I often pick up one of those regional “style” magazines when we’re at the beach. They’re giveaways filled with splashy advertising along with a few articles of local interest and often include pages showing new or recently renovated multi-million dollar mansions nestled in secluded bayside coves or overlooking stunning ocean vistas. One of the houses in this month’s issue featured something called a “cocktail pool” which is a shallow swimming pool with a built-in table and ch

This week I got my annual mammogram which happened to fall, coincidentally, on the 46 th  anniversary of my mother’s death from the disease at age 58. My results were normal, thanks be to God, but I couldn’t help but think of her and how the world of healthcare has changed since she was diagnosed. I am proactive about my health and keep up with appointments, vaccines, and testing, but damn, mammograms make me so anxious. Because of my history, I have had my share of call-back

Photo by Jorge Fernandez Salas on Unsplash I’ve attended beautiful funerals in the last month honoring the lives of two special women who were not only good and faithful servants, but moms to everyone who came into their orbit. They were salt of the earth, do-anything-for-you kinds of people. The first was my godmother, the mother of one of my closest childhood friends and a long-time school nurse, and the other, someone I came to know in the last 30 years. In both cases, th