Open Window

“Do you want these left out of the bag?” the cashier says, holding up two bottles of water.
“That would be great,” I say. “We need those for the flowers. We’re stopping at the cemetery.”

Although I grew up way back in the 1900s, as my children like to say, I often feel I failed to absorb much of the pop culture of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. And arcade games are definitely on that list.

Summer doesn’t always match the picture-perfect image of summer in my mind. Often, instead, it’s full of dripping popsicles, scraped knees, and overtired children who are up way too late giggling under the covers. But it’s full. And there is a richness to that.

Going away on vacation is always amazing, but I am a huge fan of staycations, which is how the boys and I have spent our week.

I started writing these while on an airplane yesterday, but then I didn’t manage to finish them until today. But it felt a little like being in Green Eggs and Ham. “Can you write takes on a plane? Can you write them on a train? In a car or on a tree…?”

As I was boarding, a flight attendant said, “This is a crowded flight, so we are going to make some friends today.”

Mental illness isn’t always something a person can navigate even with a strong, wonderful family and a compassionate friends. It often requires professional help and medication and sometimes switching to different professional help and different medications.

The night our new cousin and nephew was born we went out to dinner to celebrate—and also, maybe more accurately, because I didn’t want to make dinner. We went to Pappas, where I had the absolutely delicious crab cake.