Eulogy For My Brother, Ronnie.

My brother, Bernie, died from suicide, the result of alcoholism and depression on Easter Sunday, April 6, 1996. My brother, Ronnie, died from suicide, the result of addiction and depression on Good Friday, April 10, 2008. I have written about that here, in an essay called, April is the Cruelest Month.  Every April I try…

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On Being Dumbfounded In The Face Of Life

Dark path of grief

Today I received the following comment on the blog I wrote about choosing “Interbeing” as my word for the year. I was so touched by it that I found myself writing a long response that’s turned into its own blog entry. Anne M., I am grateful to you. Anne wrote: Thank you for this lovely…

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Nuclear calm?

I am old enough, God help me, to remember “duck and cover.” Back at the dawn of time, in the height of the Cold War, even in a small town outside of Montreal, Quebec, we school children of the era understood that “duck and cover” meant a nuclear bomb was headed our way and that…

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My Dog Is Dying (Part II)

A NOTE TO READERS….. The title of this blog says almost everything. I will add a few things, though. This time is EXCRUCIATING. So much so that I will not be answering phone calls for the foreseeable future. Answering emails will be touch and go… and forgive me if you comment on this series of…

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My Dog Is Dying (Part I)

A NOTE TO READERS….. The title of this blog says almost everything. I will add a few things, though. This time is EXCRUCIATING. So much so that I will not be answering phone calls for the foreseeable future. Answering emails will be touch and go… and forgive me if you comment on this series of…

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Even so…. #1

I’ve lost count of how long this pandemic has been going on. But, remembering the words of Raymond Carver, who wrote, “Did you get wanted what you wanted from this life, even so?”, I ask and will keep asking, was this day a miracle, even so? In spite of everything, I drew a deep breath…

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Never More Helpless

The signs had been there for months and months. All those conversations we had about how terrible her life was, how persecuted she was, how much she regretted this and that, how injustice was burning her alive, how it was all painful and hopeless. In short, depression was a heavy, cold, wet, woolen blanket over…

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Reading in Dark Times

It can be difficult for me to remain cheery in the midst of world events. It’s hard to remember that all things are born, live and die into transformation, only to repeat the cycle over and over again. This is true, I believe of all sentient things, as well as eras, cultures, nations, planets… The…

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Suicide. Cruelty. Kindness…. and a possible movement.

It’s been a painful week, hasn’t it? Wow. Kate Spade. Anthony Bourdain. A general glut of cruelty and lack of kindness. I told myself I wouldn’t write another piece about suicide, but then I made the mistake of looking on social media, and what I saw upset me so, well, I can’t help myself. I begin…

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Glug, horror, attention!

As some of you know I have, with the help of the wonderful team of Bob and Garrett Griffith, created a raised bed vegetable garden. I love it. Veggies, you know? But here’s the problem… Bailey the Rescuepoo wandered out past the garden and was suddenly all muddy, as many short-legged white dogs might be.…

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