Category Archives: Love Conquers All

Modern Family

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“Are there any Jewish people here?” My mother asks, over her vanilla yogurt and Swiss cheese sandwich. “I think there are a few in the gated community up the road,” I say, clearing dishes off the table. “Well that’s a relief,” my mom says.  “How did you hear?” “The Jews have secret smoke signals down here, Mom, ones that the Klan don’t recognize.” “Ilene…” my ex-husband says.  It’s the warning call, the one where he tells me to back off.  Just the use of the word Klan is feeding into my mother’s fear that I’ve moved myself and her grandchildren … Continue reading →

Rise

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My marriage had been in trouble for years.  It was an inconvenient truth that I had wanted to avoid.   We tried counseling.  We tried talking less and listening more. We tried date nights.  We continued to hit a wall over and over and over, until one morning on an early September day last year. It hasn’t been an easy year.   I doubt that anyone who’s gone through a divorce would tell you that the first year was easy.  It was a year where I’ve counted on friends.  It was a year where I’ve counted on my therapist.  I was a … Continue reading →

A Sort of Goodbye but Not Really

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I have never taken friendship lightly. There is a very good chance that if you were my friend twenty years ago, you’re still my friend now, and an even better chance if that you’re my friend now, you will be my friend twenty years from today.   If you are someone who matters to me, you can live on any continent on planet earth and I’ll find a way to stay in touch.  I may even find a way to pay you a visit. This weekend, I am relocating my family from New Jersey to an island on the North Carolina … Continue reading →

Old Friends We’ve Just Met

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  First, I’ll share the big news. I have a new man in my life. He’s absolutely gorgeous. Holding him feels like pure heaven. He drools a little bit and he’s shorter than I am. But I can live with that in exchange for his captivating stare and impish smile. His name is Des. You may in fact know Des’ mother, Tamara, if you are in the blog world. I became enamored with Tamara a few months back, when our worlds virtually collided out here in theblogosphere.  Her site became a fast favorite of mine, and then Tamara herself became … Continue reading →

I Heart Robert

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He had a William Shatner thing going.  He was older than me, by at least twenty years, but young, nice jeans, good shoes, great smelling cologne that I caught a whiff of as he whizzed by with his tool box.  He sang to himself as he walked from his van to my front door. I was in denial about my dryer, the rattling that got louder and louder that one week, during softball season where there was mud on all of my daughter’s clothes.   With a family of five, Laundromat was a dirty word.  I desperately called around to … Continue reading →

The Good Neighbor

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I can’t think of any better way to welcome today’s guest of honor than to serve wine and lots of it.  And Nachos.  For, those are the refreshments Alexa and I bonded over at Bloggy Boot Camp in Charlotte last month. One of the best parts of attending BBC was getting to meet so many wonderful bloggers in real life, and Alexa is just as delightful in person as she is on her blog No Holding Back. I can really relate to the story she tells below.  Can you?   I have not been a good friend the past few years. … Continue reading →

The Wall

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Follow my blog with Bloglovin He wasn’t supposed to have been born that day.  His due date was in January, and he therefore had no business arriving in early November.  The birth didn’t come as a surprise.  I had been on hospital bed rest for ten days after being rushed to the labor and delivery floor when my water broke at 29 weeks.  I had already beaten the “statistics” and had managed to stay pregnant those extra ten days, meaning my son would only be 9 weeks early versus 11.  Those two weeks were a huge bonus.  Yet, I still … Continue reading →

The Good

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Writing desk:  Sold Sofa and love seat:  Sold Kitchen table:  Sold Children’s dresser: Sold And the list goes on. Between yard sales and Craig’s list and a Facebook buy/sell/trade group that I belong to, the articles of my material life have dissipated before my eyes. My goal for that day in August when my kids and I drive out of New Jersey is to fit everything we own in the back of my car. Realistically, I will have to leave at least a few boxes in my mother’s garage.  Yet the things I store will be the most important items … Continue reading →

Late One Night

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There had been no doubt that he had broken things off with me. So when he showed up at my doorstep with a bottle of wine, it was surprising. Square jawed and dimpled, he stood a foot taller than me.  He had grown well into the fortyish version of himself. Why are you here? I wanted to ask.  Why now? But he walked right past me to the kitchen, opened a cabinet and took two glasses. I had no idea how she got in, but he sat down across the table, from her, and poured the wine. They chatted, in … Continue reading →

Get Up!

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  Running always makes me feel badass.  I needed to feel badass after last week. For me, last week was a week of getting knocked down, both at work and in my personal life.  To be fair, when I’m feeling strong and when I’m in a great space, you can take all the punches at me you want, and you still can’t knock me down, but there have been a few chinks in my armor lately.  It’s amazing how much hurt can slip through those narrow little spaces when we let it. When I had the last minute opportunity to … Continue reading →