“Stuff happens.” I saw that on a bumper sticker once. Stuff happens to our bodies. People I know well have been in car accidents, sports accidents, and home accidents. People I am close to have arthritis as a daily companion. Their pens no longer move, and their musical instruments must Read more
What is it that transforms normal basic human prudence (good) into worry (bad)? I think it is this: the gut-level urge to assume the worst in every possible outcome. Is Daddy late coming home from work? He must be dead in a ditch. Did I get a bad grade in Read more
President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison had electricity brought into the White House in 1889, but they were so terrified of it that they had the servants turn the light switches on and off. If the servants had already gone to bed, the Harrisons slept with lights blazing. It’s one thing Read more
We sling around the words die and death very casually in day-to-day conversation. “I could have just died from embarrassment.” “I’m dying for some chocolate right now.” “That cheesecake is to die for.” “That kid’s going to be the death of me.” Some of us will die instantly—in a car Read more
There are two kinds of tired. One kind is the way you feel after a vigorous aerobic workout, or after putting in long hours at work but getting some important things done, or as you look around at a really clean house. That’s happy tired, glowing tired. People who are Read more
“Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name; nobody came. . . . All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” Have you ever felt as though that anthem to loneliness was written for your life? Loneliness has nothing to do with how Read more
Some of the people I admire most are those who age gracefully. You know what I mean. Anyone can complain about what age does to the human body—sight and hearing fade, memory fails, hair falls out, chin gets baggy, clothes shrink, blah, blah, blah. Nobody wants to hear about your Read more