Posts Categorized: Friendship

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Remember this? This was my original website header back when I began in 2013, thanks to my friend Anne McKinsey. I still love those colors, though I’ve since learned the difference between calling myself a writer and calling myself an author.  For nearly seven years, my focus here has been differences, cultural differences in particular.… more »
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  And So It Goes is trying a new tack in 2018.  First, a song. Songs have power over me. They help me recall moments I’d otherwise forget and  they lift my mood (or lower it) as needed.  Here’s a perky song to start off our new year together. It’s written and performed by Andrew Gold.  Thank… more »
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“How are you?” These past few weeks when asked how I am, I’ve been struck by how easy it is to fall back on that socially acceptable, “Fine, thanks. How are you?”  It’s the polite response, we say here in the US. And, by definition, it’s also the superficial response. Sometimes, it’s the only response… more »
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This is the story of how I got a new baby brother, 50 years late. Ever meet someone and immediately you know you’ve made a connection?  There’s chemistry, some say.  Others claim it’s finding something in common that binds you. I don’t claim to understand. All I know for sure is that as I sat… more »
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Featured image for In Memory of Ian Mathie - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IM.jpg?fit=259%2C300&ssl=1
Ian Mathie, a frequent commenter here, an infrequent Skype friend, and a constant source of encouragement and really bad email jokes, has died.  We are awaiting an official statement from his family; all I know currently is that he died on Tuesday, May 30. I know there will be opportunities to remember him as the weeks move on.… more »
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Featured image for My Cuba Trip: The Post View - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_2599.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1
  Cuba is a country filled with “what might have been.” It’s a beautiful country, we’ve all heard that, surrounded with beautiful beaches and filled with beautiful people. But, it breathes a constant, “What might have been.” Cuba is also a land where little is as it seems. Expectations live a very short half-life, if at… more »
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Love of animals is a universal impulse, a common ground on which all of us may meet. By loving and understanding animals, perhaps we humans shall come to understand each other. — Louis J. Camuti  [Click to Tweet this quote]   As I write this, Sasha is sleeping peacefully at my feet. Nothing new there. She… more »
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Alpha mom thought it best that I tell you what’s going on. She thinks she’ll sound too serious.  It’s something about her “voice” in telling the story. I don’t understand this; I like her voice, especially when she’s telling me what a good great dog I am.   As some of you know, I’ve made my living here… more »
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  Alpha mom is away at summer camp this week, so it’s me, Sasha, back again to cover for her. And I’ve been given carte blanche — literally. I can write about anything I want. She was planning to write about summer camp — it’s a music camp, in the woods somewhere in New Hampshire — and… more »
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