When I retired after a twenty-year career as a public school counselor, I opened my own small independent college counseling business. For the past five years, I have assisted students in choosing colleges, completing the Common App, and writing polished essays. My entrepreneurial endeavor provided a soft landing into my post-career life, a way to employ my skills on my terms. I liked working with kids and was not ready to give up that privilege.  My small business addresses a need for the college-bound set. The families who hire me as a college guru are affluent or at least comfortable ..read more

I drew the small brush over my nail and raised my hand closer to the light to inspect my handiwork. “Barbie pink,” I said with satisfaction. It was a gesture of homage. I was a Barbie girl at sixty-four. When I was young, I aspired to be like Barbie while making peace with our differences. Her curly blond bangs and long ponytail pulled tight and shiny against her head couldn’t have been any more different than my straight, dark brown bob cut. Her curvy, ill-proportioned body looked nothing like my undeveloped, shapeless form. She was a California beach bum. I lived in Medford; the best I coul ..read more

In September 2021, I broke the fifth metatarsal bone in my right foot. I could have blamed it on a well-waxed floor causing my slip and fall, but I knew the truth. Earlier that evening, I pulled a pair of cute wedge sandals out of the archives. Although they were on the cusp of “vintage,” they seemed in good shape based on a quick assessment of the integrity of the straps. But as my husband and I left Mass that evening, my heel somehow went out from beneath me, knocking my other foot off its bearings like a croquet mallet. I hit the stone floor in the back hallway at Boston’s St. Anthony’s Sh ..read more

If giving is truly better than receiving, then ‘winning Christmas’ is the ultimate giving coup. Our family adopted the idea of winning Christmas as a way to acknowledge the really great gifts–the ones that make the receiver happy, really happy. On Christmas morning, I watch with a discerning eye to detect winning. Once in a while, a gift is received with such enthusiasm, it’s difficult to ignore–a clear-cut Christmas win. Other times, it’s tough to tell how a gift truly lands. In the moment, most gifts are received enthusiastically but I worry that an hour after the unwrapping carnage ends, t ..read more

Photo by Element5 Digital on Pexels.com I liked my iPhone 8 but after a mere three years, it was time for an upgrade. In tech speak, three years equals a lifetime. Remarkably, the pale pink Otterbox protector emerged unscathed through all the daily abuse and heavy pandemic wear and tear; even the screen survived without a crack or a chip. My ‘8’ still performed its duties well–my daily games of Wordle, Worldle, Globle, and Quordle; email alerts; headlines from the New York Times and the Boston Globe; and all those dizzying, breaking news updates. The gadget, with all of my personal and bu ..read more

After forty-two years of marriage, my husband has mastered the art of half-listening. He catches my first few words, checks out for the meat of the message, and responds with “Hmm,” or  “Really?” at the end. When I dipstick his retention, hours or days later, he will confirm my suspicions. He didn’t listen.  I like my primary care physician but I fear he may also be a master of this dubious skill. I’ve complained for years about feeling unwell. I’m chronically exhausted. Aches and pains migrate from my fingers to my feet to my knees to my back. I’ve had all the basic blood tests and ..read more

An old friend recently asked, “When did you become so political?” I should have responded, “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t.” Instead, I referenced my political science major at Boston College. I chose poli sci because of my immersion in political discussion from my earliest memories. Even then, I suppressed my liberalism to live in my father’s world. I never tipped my hand at political leanings, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t “political.”  I grew up in a family that ascribed to extreme political views, causing me to avoid discussing world affairs with anyone outside of our house ..read more

Hanover Street, Boston’s North End On Saturday evening, my husband Tim and I ventured out to our favorite haunt, Boston’s North End. A hundred years ago, my family called the Italian enclave ‘home,’ but I visit my roots not to trace the steps of those who came before me. Instead, I go to eat, drink, and people-watch. On a warmer than usual spring night, the streets bustled with plenty of people and plenty to watch.  For our dining venue, we chose Quattro, a smallish restaurant at the end of the first block of Hanover Street, the main drag that dissects the neighborhood. I had read the rev ..read more