Exploring one of life's most valuable gifts
This fall certainly feels like a time of change. School is starting, with routines shifting around for both kids and parents. Covid numbers have been back on the rise, hurricane season is in full force and worldwide events have been pretty bleak. Understandably, many of us may be feeling a little on edge. We recently... Continue Reading →
As a long-time married person, it’s been ages since I've experienced first-hand that awkwardly sick feeling in my gut from a horrendous first date or a new relationship that is clearly not working. Dating apps have added a whole other dimension to an already complicated ritual, and I am clueless about how to navigate that.... Continue Reading →
August is always a month of mixed emotions, with summer waning and routines resuming. This year, our typical August emotions may feel far more complex because of the pandemic—especially when it comes to reconnecting with colleagues and classmates we haven’t regularly seen in person for some time. Although many corporations are pushing off reopening their... Continue Reading →
One of the few silver linings of the Covid-19 pandemic for me was the revitalization of my close-knit group of six friends who lived together in a beat-up old house during our senior year of college. Our weekly Gaffield Zoom call, named after the tree-lined street where our old house was situated, remains a fixture... Continue Reading →
Anyone who has felt the pain of having a dear friend move far away, and I don’t think many of us make it into adulthood without that experience, would be able to relate to the underlying premise of the book Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close. Less relatable might be going to couples... Continue Reading →
As we emerge from our Covid-19 Pandemic cocoons this spring and reignite old friendships, we may find ourselves being a little cautious about forming new ones. Spotting a familiar face at the store or dog park has been tricky when obscured by masks, and don’t even get me started about the challenges of chatting through... Continue Reading →
In September 2011, everything around me was changing. In the span of a few months, I had given notice at work, packed up my family to move from Chicago to the suburbs, and switched my boys from daycare near work to preschools in our new community. These were all big changes designed to create some semblance of calm in our family, following the start of my older son’s near daily mix of occupational, speech and play therapy after his diagnosis of... Continue Reading →
It was now the late days of 1987. I had about two weeks left of winter break before I had to head back up North for the second half of my freshman year. The younger siblings I had been excited to see after months away at school were wearing on my nerves. I had talked... Continue Reading →
George Clooney is one of those superstars who are almost as entertaining to learn about off the screen as they are to watch in movies. He has a playful way of interacting with interviewers and a practical joker personality, so news about him is often amusing one way or another. I recently saw a clip... Continue Reading →
Julia and I can’t pinpoint exactly when we first met, although she thinks she remembers hearing my name when she was the new kid in sixth grade at James Lane Allen Elementary School in Lexington, Ky. That would’ve been in 1981, and she had just moved with her family from Arlington, Virginia. Ten years earlier, my family had moved south from Philadelphia into our first tiny house in Lexington’s Gardenside neighborhood when I was two years old, and I had attended James Lane... Continue Reading →
Language of Friendship 