You are not supposed to fall in love with your friends with benefits. It is the common rule in seduction, you fall in love- you lose. And nobody likes losing. But there are very few that do not fall. Because even though your mind knows it is all play-pretend, somehow you start to fall for all the acting. And when you fall in seduction, you get bruised and bumped and sometimes-most times- you bleed because somewhere in between the contract, in little print, it was written that no one would catch

My relationships with both my maternal and paternal grandparents have fluctuated as I’ve grown older and although I’m not exceptionally close to any of them, I deeply cherish the time that we have spent together and the memories that flood back when I think of them and talk to them now. They have all taught me wonderful things and are beautiful, dynamic people with huge hearts.

I have very vivid, specific memories of each of them spending time with me alone or with the r

This month I turned sixty. I have two adult daughters, three grandsons and two granddaughters. It is a milestone for me in many ways.

Ten years ago, at the age of fifty, and about to become a grandmother for the first time, I found myself, once again, in treatment for anorexia. I was fighting to remain alive, engaged in a thirty year battle with this complex and devastating disorder.

In researching the women of my family for an album I was working on for my daughters

I am sad to say that of my family members, my grandparents are the two who I see and talk to the least right now. When I was younger I saw them all the time. In the spring, they would come up from Florida because of the warmer weather and stay up here at their own house until the middle of autumn when the weather began to turn cold again. Sorta like Mary Poppins, they stayed until the winds changed.

A few years back, they moved down to Florida permanently, after the trips back and

It does not need to be a grand and flashy trip somewhere to make an impression on a child. Merely spending time doing small things like reading, cooking, playing, storytelling are all that is needed. Children are fascinated by the past and things that we did that when we were younger, even if we were not on covered wagons! It does not take a lot of money or energy to make an impact on a grandchild’s life.

My own mother has made a big impact on my children’s lives over the years. She

Many people say this line of their wedding vows without really giving much thought to what the “in sickness” part might look like. When you are healthy, the term “sickness” often means a cold or the flu or maybe bronchitis. But for many, sickness can take on a more sinister turn into the realm of chronic illness.

A chronic illness is, by definition, one that lasts more than either 3 or 6 months; then you have the illnesses and/or injuries from which you recover and those from whi

This summer I will happily accompany my mom back to her hometown of Bucksport, Maine. We've visited there before but this year will be different, this year I'll be taking her, she won't be taking me. In many ways I'll be the adult, and the caretaker and she the child; a role that will be new for me and I will have to reinvent myself. I know I will have to be on high alert as I can be impatient and critical at times and there will be no place for these unfavorable traits of mine on this trip.

After my husband’s passing, I wrote “thank yous“ for the wonderful condolence messages, and as was my habit, signed both our names. I soon heard from concerned friends that I wasn’t facing reality. “What reality?” I protested. “I am our secretary; he always left it to me.”

However, he did compose one note that I cherish. He wrote it on the day of our second daughter’s birth, and I have read the note at the naming of each of my great grandchildren.

“Thank you, dear G-d,”

My grandfather, like my grandfather's father and all the men before or after him in my family, is a fisherman. Not just any kind of fisherman, though. There's the fishermen who fish on the beach, off the dock, or off a boat, and then there's the fishermen who own party boats, capable of taking out crowds of 75-100 to go fishing during the summer and early fall. My grandfather was the latter.

When my grandfather's father was starting out in life (I'm saying his 30s)he bought a boat an

It has been seven years since my grandma passed away. Going into high school, I not only had to grow up but say goodbye to a really important person in my life as well. It was hard enough dealing with the upset, let alone going through the notions just to get through school. But I found a way to cope, knowing she’s happier where she is – no longer in pain from being sick. Ever since she left, I always thought of new ways to cherish her memory. But the things I made along the way got lost or rui