Eli left a couple of hours ago, a sudden invitation. Sophie’s away at college. Unexpectedly the nest emptied tonight. Susan and I are on our own all weekend. No kids, a preview of the near future. This should have happened before. Sophie’s been gone for a year. But during last school year, no overnight outings … Continue reading The Emptied Nest
Teenagers
On/Off Button
I wrote about this before, back when this blog was new. My first post here, the last thing I wrote for my book. Hi, I’m Jeff. “Wow, you sure have a lot of problems!” This was my former boss. She spoke with exclamation points. She ticked them off on her fingers: “Vision! Hearing! Tourettes! Face-blindness?” … Continue reading On/Off Button
Vampires
“I have to run into work for a sec. You want to ride along?” “Nah, I’m about to eat lunch.” “It’s 3:15!” Today’s latest evidence—my kids are becoming vampires. Me, channeling my mother: “Get out of bed, the day’s half over!” “Why?” I don’t have an answer. Why go to bed early? Why not sleep … Continue reading Vampires
N95
It reminded me of a panic attack. A claustrophobic, closed-in feeling. Restricted breathing and obscured vision—except it lasted for forty minutes. I just shopped at Lowe’s wearing an N95 mask. Bear with me, lots to explain: Lowe’s – The other day, a blogger mentioned watching a TV show on ABC. Oh, interesting, I thought, they … Continue reading N95
The Other Stuff 