Four children and a dog on Christmas I have been thinking about my parents and the Christmas magic they created for us as children a lot this year.  My mom’s aunt and uncle, Aunt Nini and Uncle Will, moved into our house when I was two.  Uncle Will died just before my third birthday, and Aunt Nini lived with us for another sixteen years or so.  That was an important fact in helping Mommy and Daddy create the magical Christmases that I love to remember. Mom was the only one of

View from Bridge at O'Hare airport to Terminal L I had such plans for December. Three theater performances. A trip to see my grand niece christened a Catholic. Training for a 10 mile race in January. At least some of my plans have materialized. December 3 brought a dental emergency and oral surgery including a bone graft. Lost a couple of days to that. Went to the theater on December 6 in somewhat of a haze, but loved seeing a friend's son as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reind

Screen shot of updated webpage showing cover of "Count Your Blessings" and back of book blurb On Wednesday while I was cooking the Thanksgiving Feast, I decided to update my website. I concentrated on the two pages that features my book series, the "As It Could Be" series and the "Bayou Beni" series. If all goes according to plan, I will go tomorrow to get photos of more local churches and decide on the cover photo for my work in progress, and update my home page with inform

My daughter and I - October 1976 Taking a different path is never easy. It was not in my life plan to be pregnant at fifteen, married and a mother at sixteen, and divorced with a child at twenty-one. But that is the path I took. I would not recommend it to anyone, but I wouldn't change it either. My daughter is the greatest gift in my life. That said, she suffered trauma from before she was born, as I was emotionally battered throughout my pregnancy. No ones fault, just