Time Traveling

91 and 23. Grandma and grandson. Love.

Rebirth

It's been 37 years since my bone marrow transplant and this Polaroid picture of me was taken by my dad a few weeks out of the hospital. That look on my face expresses my feeling that I had touched a spark of eternity. Every year I think I won't post anything about this second birthday. I think it will be old news, but it never is. Each year, it's a chance to thank my younger brother, who gave me his bone marrow, which saved my life. I thank my doctor, who is no longer alive, and the 100 plus people (scientists, nurses, family, caregivers) who brought me back to the living. It was a highly risky and experimental procedure when I had my transplant in 1979. I was lucky. It worked out in the most glorious, best possible way.

Mid-flight Thrill

You never know what the day will bring. Over the past few days, we've had a burgeoning flock of black birds filling up our trees in our back and front yards. (Our urban yard is tiny.)  Yesterday morning, for instance, I woke to the sound of their squees and garbles and loud chatter. These visitation have been happening about twice a day. So, this early afternoon, when they showed up again, I ran to the kitchen window with low expectations of getting a picture. Lucky mid-flight surprise.

Strangers In Budapest, a novel

Heading into Production! It's done. Nine years. Countless revisions. Novel-shocked!                          Coming fall 2017, Algonquin Books

New Year 2016 - 8 wishes for you

My favorite part about this box of oranges, lemons, and grapefruits handpicked from my cousin's garden in Arizona--aside from the kindness of the gift--are the leaves and twigs still clinging to the fruit. Here are eight wishes that I hope will cling to you all year: 

1) Take care of yourself
2) Give yourself time to grow
3) Seek simplicity
4) Reach for goodness
5) Contribute to a cause you believe can make a difference in the world. It will.
6) Honor the literary arts, the transformative power of storytelling is endless

7) Listen to music that ignites your passion
8) Stay open to the lessons of love

Falling into Fall

Mid-November and the leaves have floated off from their moorings, swept up again into the sky's ocean by unseasonably mild winds, then settling curbside in elongated piles, anchored by the rains. Here are some of my favorite views of the season.

Fall is a long sunset of colors

Leaf tide

A haunting sky on Halloween Eve

#Boston Marathon, Multiple Sclerosis, My husband, Our friend

This year, my husband Barlow joined Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Marathon team to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He was inspired to do so because of our dear friend, Susan, who has been living with a progressive form of MS for 25 yrs. The money Barlow raises will go toward MS research at BWH.

Susan went to law school with Barlow and is a graduate of Mt. Holyoke. When I first met her, she was working at a top law firm in NYC and then at Universal Studios in California. She loved sports and physical activity--tennis, volly ball, biking, and hiking. She volunteered to help kids compete in the Special Olympics. But, MS caused her to retire early. Today, Susan needs a wheelchair and can no longer type on her computer.

Yet, even after her retirment due to MS, she served for 13 years on the National MS Society's Board in California, and then in Oregon, where she now lives. For six years in a row, she was the #1 fundraiser for the Souther California MS chapter, and one of the top two fundraisers in Oregon for the MS walk. In total, Susan has raised over $300,000 for MS research.

On a personal level, you can imagine how much Barlow and I desperately want to help Susan and BWH find a cure for MS.

Susan is also an award-winning poet

I'm so proud of Barlow for training this past winter, running in single-digit weather, across difficult, snowy terrain. But none of it compares to the terrain that Susan has had to cross these past 25 years. She inspires us every day.

--as does Brigham and Women's Hospital for being ahead of the curve since its inception, finding cures for diseases that once seemed impossible to treat. My
bone marrow transplant in 1979 is certainly an example of that. I believe that BWH will do the same for MS.

Click link to support Barlow's effort to help Susan

Thank you!

Happy Marathon day! Look for Barlow running for Susan!