The sunflowers that smiled for two weeks on my kitchen table stopped smiling today.
Actually, it wasn’t just a single bunch of flowers. I’d been picking out the ones that faded and buying fresh ones to add to the vase as needed to keep them looking happy _ like me. [Read more…]

Long ago, my grandmother made me a promise.
“It will heal,” she said, dabbing my bloody knee. “Give it time. Healing is what we do best.”
“How much time?” I asked.
“As long as it takes,” she said. Then she added, “But you need to slow down and pay attention to where you’re going.” [Read more…]

If you are anything like me (no, smarty, I don’t mean clumsy) maybe you grew up in a time and place that taught you to be self-reliant and never ask for anything that isn’t offered. [Read more…]

Sometimes the people I love refuse to take me at my word. Usually, this annoys me, but at times, I don’t mind it. It depends not on what I say, but what I mean when I say it. I expect them to know the difference. What else is love for? [Read more…]

When the phone rang, I had no way of knowing it was a call I would treasure forever.

Life is full of surprises, like a storm in the night that leaves you fumbling in the dark for a flashlight, then dazzles you with blazes of lightning. It makes you want to get up each day just to see what will happen, where the lightning will strike, and who might be calling you next. [Read more…]

For Father’s Day when I was 9, I wanted to give my daddy a gift, the best gift he’d ever gotten.
Lucky for me, this would not be too hard. [Read more…]

Out of the blue, he asked me a question about a moment we shared years ago, he and I, a moment so momentous we would never be the same. [Read more…]

Bad news, they say, comes in threes. Three weeks ago, after a month of traveling for speaking engagements, I came home to Las Vegas to unpack and try to get to know my husband again. [Read more…]

(Note: I’m taking this week off from writing. The following is from a graduation speech I’ve given numerous times over the years.)

To the Class of 2012:

Today, when you marched in here, you were not alone. You carried on your shoulders the hopes and dreams and love of a great many people: Your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, your teachers, coaches, neighbors and friends. [Read more…]

(Note: I’m taking this week off from writing. This column is a repeat from 2006.)

“25 Tips for Staying Married” by Sharon Randall

I first met Steve when he was a high school freshman playing basketball for my husband. Of all the great kids we knew over the years, Steve was one of the finest. I’ll always be grateful for the eulogy he gave at my husband’s memorial service. When Steve got married a few years ago, I decided to to give him a gift that would be both useful and cheap _ advice. So I sifted through years of experience, old columns and letters from readers to come up with the following: [Read more…]