We need to begin to discuss something we’ve tended to avoid talking about. Let me tell you why. For a long time, I’ve had this thing called “urge incontinence,” a sudden intense urge to pee for no apparent reason. It’s not like “stress incontinence,” where one can point to a…
I recently read At the Window, an essay by Mary Jo Balistreri. She wrote, “The elderly in our culture are simply not seen. Or if they are, they are often seen as less,” and she went on to provide illustrations of how she, at age 71, has personally experienced…
I roll over and stare at the alarm clock on our bedside table. 4:30. Groaning into my pillow, I try unsuccessfully to drown the heavy snoring of my sick-with-a-cold husband who lies next to me. Finally I give up on sleep and slide off my side of the bed. I…
My good Mennonite parents (especially my father) were anti-materialists and anti-consumerists to an extreme. They firmly believed that God only asked for them to be obedient and humble in doing His will. He would take care of the rest. And they lived their lives accordingly. “We don’t need curtains. Just…
When I started and then stopped writing this blog over four years ago, my husband and I were estranged from three of our four middle-aged children. Each of them found something about us unacceptable, and the “somethings” were different in each case. “But you were always a good parent,” my…