Collecting My Thoughts

 Downsizing isn't fun.  Everyone (almost) says so and has advice. There's a lot of sadness in going through items packed away and fo...

 Today I was cleaning out a drawer and found a stack of papers with old addresses.  In the stack was a 1987 letter from a friend I was inten...

I’ve been reading through the letters that Californians wrote to their governor (Ronald Reagan) in 1967—52 years ago.  I remember that year ...

  1)  While watching the evening news, I resolve to do one page of 6th grade math a day.  So far, I’ve done 2 pages and have an A+ average...

See Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4 for the story about why I was living on my grandparents’ farm in 1958, the summer between my fresh...

I used to joke with my mom about her crop and weather reports in her letters.  I'm sorry about that now--they are really very sweet when...

He may never see the letter, but the envelope should get someone's attention.  As near as I can figure, there's no way to run an env...

Dear friend of many years, I'm going to have to take a Christian brother to task here [e-mail about shifting blame to the wrong people...

Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS Brown University 272 George St. Providence RI 02906 Re: The right to health as the unheralded narrative of Healt...

1980 has not been one of my healthier years. I went to the doctor today and had chest x-rays and blood tests. My chest is clear, viral bro...

"There is no such thing as improved, enhanced, more efficient or streamlined government. We have one option: more government or less ...

I'm going through some old boxes of cards and letters looking for valentines to use. Found some 20-30 years old. One was hand-made by ...

This book, "On a personal note, a guide to writing notes with style" is my newest book, [cross referenced at my book blog] having ...

3632 On this day in 1883 Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote from Dublin to his old university friend Alexander Baillie (British politican): ...

3419 The Presidential Prayer Team Dear John: I'm more than happy to be a team member, to pray daily for our President, the Congress,...

Monday Memories--Remembering Mother January 24 will be the seventh anniversary of my mother's death. I remember getting the call at m...

Monday Memories: Did I ever tell you about: When my letters turned into a memoir? When my children left home about 20 years ago, I was suff...

991 Weather Report A blog is a "web log," a diary you keep on the internet. Therefore, it is OK to place an entry in your very o...

557 Letter to Suburban News Publications (SNP) Columbus, OH My husband left the SNP Upper Arlington News on the counter with the note, ...