My mother was full of gumption. On the first day I remember her, Irene Duffy Kuhl was soaping up the back of the bathtub so I could slide down it. She was still showing off her gumption the hour she died as she complimented a nurse on her “beautiful blue uniform,” while …
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw When I graduated from college (long before electronic files), I gathered favorite poems and stories I had written and organized them in a black, three-ring binder. This was a real …
I have an oddly shaped angel who looks after me. In my daydreams, Augie appears with wings far too small for his stout body. He wears red, full-body underwear and a big white cowboy hat. Augie can’t fly. It is aerodynamically impossible, but he does his best by taking long …
I don’t know about you, but my mind is slow in catching up with who I am today. So often I define myself as the person I once was in my earlier decades. It amazes me that some people doubt whether self-change is possible. I can’t keep up with it. For example, I have this …
When I’m just sitting around, often outside in the shade, I ask myself: What the heck happened? Why do I live in this house, in this town? Why am I wearing this pair of faded jeans and this old checkered shirt? Why, after 30 years, do I still go to work for this company? Why …
It’s May 31st and I am having surgery today. This young doctor who, in my eyes, looks as if he’s about 14, is going in and replacing my 73-year-old right hip with a brand new one. Many of my friends say it’s no big deal. They tell me stories of Uncle Joe or their next …
On two occasions last month, I heard friends of mine, both in their 70s, beat themselves up over poor choices they made many years ago. As they shared dark secrets from decades earlier, I thought about the weight they had been carrying with no particular benefit to …
Aging gives me an opportunity to slow down and appreciate tiny pieces of landscape. There is an old white house a block off Main Street in Carson City. Many years ago, a sidewalk was put in that extends from one end of the property to the other. I decided to study one block …
As I age, my hands are getting softer. That’s a real problem because they’ve never been muscular or tough to the touch. So many people over the years, after I’ve attempted to give a firm, cowboy-like handshake, remark, “My, your hands are really soft.” I don’t take it as a …
I have a great idea for older folks who, like me, can’t sing a lick. I have this little hike I go on that gets me away from everybody. Up there, rising above the sagebrush, is a big flat rock about three feet off the ground. One day, while sitting on the rock, I had …