A jury summons is not something most people are thrilled to find in the mail.
The prospect of taking a few days (or God forbid, weeks) out of your life to sit in judgment on matters that may seem of little importance is disheartening, to say the least _ especially if you happen to be someone who doesn’t get paid unless you actually show up for work. [Read more…]

What do you call it? That moment when someone walks into your life, opens a door in your heart, puts their feet up on your coffee table and makes themselves at home? When you realize that the stranger you just met is going to be a part of you forever? There ought to be a name for that. [Read more…]

Woke this morning to yet another forecast for “abundant sunshine.” The sky was blue and cloudless, the mountains were clear and bright. It was 75 degrees, with just enough breeze to ruffle the fronds of the palm trees and the feathers of the finches hanging on the feeder.
A perfect almost-spring day. [Read more…]

The conversation was oddly reminiscent of one that took place some 20 years ago between my mother and her sister, my sweet aunt Hazel. On that occasion, Aunt Hazel phoned my mother, as she did most every day, only to be told in no uncertain terms that it was not a good time to talk. [Read more…]

On this beautiful Las Vegas morning _ a day of “abundant sunshine,” cloudless blue skies, 75 degrees and just enough breeze to rustle the palm trees _ my heart goes out to countless victims of the tornadoes that rained death and destruction in the past few days on entire communities from the Midwest through the Deep South. In times of great tragedy, we are made more aware of what is always true, but too easily forgotten _ that we are all friends, all family, all one people. We share each others griefs and joys, bear each others burdens. Their loss is our loss, too. Take a moment with me, please, to hold them up _ our unmet friends and family who are suffering devastation this morning. Say a prayer for God’s grace to pour out upon them, along with our gifts and donations and other efforts to help. Send them  “abundant sunshine” in every way possible. And remember to give thanks that, this time, this day, you and I and our loved ones were spared.

He’s studying the image in the camera’s viewfinder (that’s been turned to face him) trying to make sense of what he sees. Suddenly, he gets it: It’s him! [Read more…]

Maybe next time I will tell you about the hundreds (or millions, I can’t say for sure, because at some point I lost count) of birthday cards that arrived this week addressed to me and the “Birthday Boy.”
That would be my husband, whose birthday (a big one, as I noted in a recent column) fell 10 days before mine. [Read more…]

It’s interesting, isn’t it, what interests us? Of all the people I’ve written about, no one has sparked the curiosity of readers as much as my brother Joe. [Read more…]

I’m not sure how it happened. It’s not like we planned it. Between my husband and me, our collective five children and their significant others, most of the birthdays in our immediate family fall within four short weeks, January to February. [Read more…]

The flight to Las Vegas, where I live, from California, where I’d been visiting my kids, sounded like tuberculosis ward.
Seriously? Who goes to Sin City when they’re sick? Don’t they know you’re supposed to wait until it’s time to go home, after you’ve partied for days, lost a month’s wages, gotten a tattoo you can’t explain, and suddenly remembered you have to go to work on Monday?
That’s when you get sick _ not on your way there. [Read more…]