Would you believe that exactly 230 years ago, my great-great-great-great grandmother traveled from East Tennessee along the Cumberland River to help establish Nashville?  For 6 months, she endured harsh conditions, wild adventures, and Indian attacks.  My mother brought this odyssey to life in her novel Perilous Journey.

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It seems a fitting topic on Easter eve to reflect on new life.  After all, the theme echoes through the resurrection, through Mother Nature and through the often daunting and ever timeless task of raising children.  My 17 year old daughter Elizabeth has been, her whole life, on the front lines of new life . . . leading me further along the path of loving and letting go. (more…)

Spring has sprung here in New England . . . or rather winter has ended, more or less.  Some days are surprisingly warm and sunny.  Other days are soggy and muddy.  It appears that the Easter bunny will not be leaving eggs nestled in snow clumps this year. (more…)

I was sitting at my desk on a Monday morning, calmly reviewing my inbox of emails, when I heard a yell and a sharp crack outside.  I raised my eyes to look out the window in time to see a huge pine tree – we’re talking at least 70 feet tall – fall from my neighbor’s property through the air and, landing with a thud, sprawl its green branches across the street. (more…)

I recently had the pleasure of running into an old friend.  We were casually chatting, catching up on life’s adventures, when she mentioned that her youngest son had gone off to college last fall.  “Oh,” I surmised, “You’re an empty nester now.”  She corrected me, “No, we’re free birds.” (more…)