What I Did
Open Letter To The Children Of Robert McNamara
Dear McNamara Children, This is a belated apology. I have been meaning to set things straight, but the right moment never materialized, and now it has been over 50 years. However, my guilt came flooding back as I watched the recent Ken Burn documentary on the Vietnam War. Night after night I saw your father,…
Read MoreThe Surprising Link Between Robert McNamara, Santa Claus, and Me
My first brush with greatness came in the mid-1960s on a Utah ski vacation that overlapped with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and his family. As a preteen, I was only vaguely aware of the man. My parents, who still had complete confidence in the government, never talked politics and rarely watched the evening news,…
Read MoreMind Trip
Driving makes me drowsy, so I am anxious as I contemplate my solo drive from my writer’s retreat in Montpelier, Vermont to my home north of Chicago. On most long drives, I wisely stop for refreshing naps. Once a wavering median line prompted me to pull over in Milwaukee just one hour north of my…
Read MoreIn the System
I sat in the windowless bowels of O’Hare Airport waiting for my face-to-face Global Entry interview. Nick had urged me to sign up not because I deserved recognition as a trusted traveler, but solely to bypass TSA and immigration lines. I have objected to such elitist programs on principle – line-cutting in the grade…
Read MoreManaging Mandatory Holiday Family Obligations: An Essential, Albeit Humorous, Guide
With my mother at the helm, my family’s household was frequently the venue for large gatherings at Christmas and Thanksgiving. These events were always casual and pot-luck, but even so, she nurtured a variety of strategies to make sure that these mandatory family obligations didn’t turn into motherf**ing ordeals. Below are five of her favorite…
Read MorePodcast: Worms in Dirt
I wanted to honor Darwin and decided that I would try to share his interest in earthworms by setting up a worm farm. SPOILER ALERT! It failed.
Read MoreWorms in Dirt
Some things are easy to explain, like why I put off a colonoscopy for several years – I think that I am like a lot of Americans. As a group we have always had an uneasy relationship with effluent – but I find it harder to explain why I did not promptly set up my…
Read MoreAs It Was in the Beginning
Our newborn son sat in my lap as I waited at the hospital entrance for my husband to bring the car around to take us home for the first time. I thought about all the surprising professions that required a license – beauticians, private eyes, and even interior designers. Basically, any profession where incompetency may result…
Read MoreDear Kid on My Son’s Soccer Team
Dear Kid (number 9 I think) on my son’s soccer team, This apology has been gnawing at me for almost 20 years. You see it was me, I was the one who slipped a lemon into your half time snack of orange slices. When your innocent face turned into a sour grimace I immediately knew that…
Read MoreEasing into the Back Nine of Life
Sixty is a magical number, the six and the zero plumply nestled together and then flanked by the stern prime numbers 59 and 61. And 60 is so accommodating, evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; the next number in this sequence is the remote 420. The pleasing proportions of 60 might…
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