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LASTING FRIENDSHIPS FROM ACQUAINTANCE TO UN-DITCHABLE

February 13, 2020 by

Try and remember the first lasting friendships outside your family that left an impression on you; think of someone before first grade. My early years were spent in a college town. My dad was a student with a wife, two kids, and another one born before he got his Bachelor’s.

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BOOMER PARENTS: HOW KIDS LEAVE A MARK

December 19, 2019 by

A peppy forty-nine year old single man was feeling down, feeling the holiday blues. I did what boomer parents do, I butted in; it’s an auto-response. He said he lived too far away from relatives to visit family and make it all better. I could feel his sadness, so I tried to talk him back […]

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LEBANON COOKBOOK IN MY KITCHEN

October 28, 2019 by

The Co-Cooking Cookbook  Growing up in my house, ethnic food meant warming up a can of Spaghetti-Os. More daring was a small town Chinese restaurant that sold more hamburgers than spicy chicken and rice. Then we all grew up and found another way: Books about cooking called a cookbook. Take it another level and invite friends to […]

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CAREGIVER: IT MATTERS MORE IF YOU CARE

October 19, 2019 by

My father in law needed a caregiver when he moved from California to Oregon. Instead of home care, he went to an assisted living home. To mixed results.

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LONDON HEATHROW, LAST LOOK FOR NOW

October 1, 2019 by

The beauty of world capitols like London and Paris shine through on the way out. Not often is the airport one of the most memorable places, and it shouldn’t be, but based on shopping opportunities Heathrow is a must see.

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BIG MOMENTS CHANGE LIFE DIRECTION

February 5, 2019 by

The first thought I have when I hear someone complain about their life going nowhere fast? ‘Then do something to change your life direction.’ Do I give advice on what to change? Oh, hell no. My advice to boomerpdx readers follows the same line of thinking: Don’t offer advice to someone complaining about their life […]

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FAMILY TIES OVERCOME SOME THINGS, NOT OTHERS

January 9, 2019 by

    Everyday I wake up I see a little gold tree with small family portraits hanging from the bare branches. Maybe you’ve got one that looks like the top image? That’s not mine. Mine used to be on my childhood fireplace mantle beside my grandfather’s railroad watch. Now I’ve got them both, and they’ve […]

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Portland Welcome Mat: How To Walk Around Downtown Portland

August 20, 2018 by

    One of the great things about sponsoring foreign exchange students after your own kids have been out of college for years is rolling out the welcome mat.   The Portland welcome mat. And dragging everyone possible along the Portland Trail.   My wagon train always starts with Saturday Market and the sort of […]

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GILLASPIE LOVESEAT TO HONOR AMERICA. IT’S FRAGILE

June 17, 2018 by

    Who hasn’t been accused of making last minute presents? My specialty is carving names in oak with a router.   It takes practice, at least more than a last minute panic to produce something meaningful on Christmas morning.   I’ve been the object of such accusations, and while correct, there is a bigger […]

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SANDWICH GENERATION GRANDY MAKES THE RIGHT CALL

June 13, 2018 by

I am in a storage space in my house throwing away rings of gauze and squirt bottles of skin care and wound cleaner. It’s a throwback moment with Grandy, my mother in law who passed two years ago. If I had PTSD I would have been thrown back. Instead it was a sweet memory. But […]

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