American process is what we’re famous for around here. The U.S. didn’t become what it is today by scrapping everything and starting over, although some argue that that’s what FDR did in the Great Depression. Not my argument. Why? Because FDR was schooled in the American process. He had been a state senator, assistant secretary […]
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN THREE PARTS
Civil disobedience arrived the night I was standing in front of an Army barracks listening to an order from a captain. “First Platoon report.” I was the leader of the fourth platoon during a middle of the night fire drill where things didn’t go well. “Fourth platoon, report.”
WORKING HARD IS HARD WORK. WHO KNEW?
Working hard used to be a rite of passage. “Start sooner than later and enjoy the rewards longer,” was the message. So hit the grind and go until there’s nothing left to grind, like this cartoon from the New Yorker? Then what?
AGING PARENTS FROM BOTH SIDES NOW
Aging parents get old fast. One day they’re skiing black diamonds on Mt. Hood, wind surfing the Columbia River, or hang gliding off sand dunes in Pacific City. The next day you’re blending up a hamburger because they can’t eat solid food. Is that how it works? Not for everyone.
FAMILY CAREGIVING TIPS FOR THE NEW SANDWICH GENERATION
Family caregiving takes a turn with a new generation lining up for duty. GenX looks ready. And like other generations before them, like the Baby Boomer Generation, it will all come as a big surprise. Most of us don’t come from a tradition, or culture, that includes taking care of our elders living under the […]
WRITE A BOOK, THEY SAID, IT’LL BE FUN
Long form writing is like a walk in the woods with no map. In the dark. With animal noises. And cliffs on both sides of the trail. If that isn’t a picture of adventure, what is? And all you need to do is sit down and write. And stay down. For a long […]
SANDWICH GENERATION GRANDY MAKES THE RIGHT CALL
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 […]
THE CARE AGE SANDWICH GENERATION
If elderly people depend on you, you’re in the Care Age. Ages come in different names defined by the dominant materials like the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. Epochs and eras all have names. If you find artifacts made in America before the explorers got here, they’re called Pre-contact, as if everything after early […]