Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Aging in Abundance
Shoveling on a Saturday in February
I wake up as if a dead personFlat on my back, arms arranged Practicing for the futureAqua pajamas, wrong pink top Cat chewing imaginary foodNext to my ear ***** The mother and daughter one table over are having tequila shots with orange slices. I… Continue Reading “Shoveling on a Saturday in February”
Hoping We’re Not Shark Bait
My mother had Alzheimer’s Disease for quite a while before I knew about it. This was because we had a long period of not speaking, a very long period, an epically long period. So, I know a fair amount about family estrangement. I am… Continue Reading “Hoping We’re Not Shark Bait”
It’s Not One Thing, It’s Everything
Our next-door neighbor’s pile of cardboard boxes reached epic proportions this morning. He opens his back door and tosses the empty boxes over his porch railing so that, over time, it becomes an intricate and very tall sculpture of not caring. We see his… Continue Reading “It’s Not One Thing, It’s Everything”
Dirty Plates and Pristine Screens
The trick about memory is how often difficult events from the past get stacked high like dirty plates waiting for their place in the dishwasher. But I will ignore the stacked plates for the time being and just focus on the question. My first… Continue Reading “Dirty Plates and Pristine Screens”
Up in the Air on This One
So, the latest bright shiny thing in my life is enrolling in a graduate certificate program in applied gerontology. This is different from theoretical gerontology which is what everyone who isn’t old thinks they’re experts in/on. Anyway, my alma mater posted a notice on… Continue Reading “Up in the Air on This One”
In the Deep End of Aging
I look at myself in the mirror. My bathing suit is faded and starting to sag. That is fitting, metaphorically speaking. Everything is sagging. Layering, folding, crinkling. It is pitiful. What do you expect? I ask myself. You don’t get to be this old… Continue Reading “In the Deep End of Aging”
Another Gone Friend
A writing friend died in his sleep a few days ago. Out of the blue, his son posted about his father’s death on Facebook, not mentioning the cause, and right away I was adrift in a sea of disbelief. Of course, his son wasn’t… Continue Reading “Another Gone Friend”
Less is More, My Friend
I’m trying to say less online and have it mean more. You can’t run your mouth all the time and expect anyone to listen. And you can’t be shouting and swearing and the ubiquitous ‘calling people out’ and not grind your followers’ patience to… Continue Reading “Less is More, My Friend”
Starting the Year with Two Funerals
We have two funerals this week. One is for a longtime community activist and the other for a former alderman, people we’ve known for forty years. I won’t eulogize them here. They were just really solid people who showed up consistently over decades, listened… Continue Reading “Starting the Year with Two Funerals”
Typing My Way to Victory
Central Michigan University, Michigan State University (2x), University of Michigan-Flint, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2x). My college education started in 1966 and ended in 1986. I just this minute realized that my trudge through higher education consumed twenty years. But the real question is what… Continue Reading “Typing My Way to Victory”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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