Sep 30, 2021Pandemic Reflections from a Grandparent: Fall 2021The summer that was supposed to be different, but wasn’t, has passed. While the days are still warm, darkness descends earlier and nights are colder. And life, at least for me, is still far from normal. …Pandemic4 min read
Aug 27, 2021“I Think What We’ve Got Here is a Failure to Communicate”*A veterinarian told me things were awful at work. In addition to being busy seeing a huge influx of pandemic pets, everything took more time due to COVID precautions. Clients were impatient with longer waits, frustrated because they couldn’t get appointments as quickly as usual, and generally short tempered. …Communication Skills3 min read
Jul 30, 2021The Vaccinated Are Getting Mad as HellI live in a blue bubble. Evanston, Illinois, home of Northwestern University, leans left. I live in a condo in which people still wear masks in common areas and in the elevators. We do let other masked residents ride the elevators with us, which is a change that happened recently…Vaccines4 min read
Jul 19, 2021Is my Child’s Teacher Vaccinated?And do I have the right to ask? My granddaughter is starting actual in-person high school after spending her entire freshman year online. Here are the “rules”: Per CDC guidelines, if students are fully vaccinated and present proof, they may attend classes unmasked. How one enforces that in a high…Covid 19 Crisis3 min read
May 27, 2021Thank You Eric CarleWhen I started teaching preschool in the early 1980s, my go to book was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. …Eric Carle3 min read
May 24, 2021Do You Want to Sit in the Vaccinated or Non-Vaccinated Section?It wasn’t that long ago that I would be asked “Smoking or non-smoking” when I went to a restaurant. And I remember when airplanes attempted to separate smokers from non-smokers in their seating assignments. In fact, it wasn’t until 2000 that smoking was banned on airplanes. In 2002, Delaware was…Vaccine Hesitancy3 min read
May 12, 2021Please Mr. PostmanIn 1961, the first version of the song Please Mr. Postman, the Marvelettes sang, Please Mister Postman Deliver de letter the sooner de better At the time, a first-class postage stamp cost 4 cents. Adjusted for inflation, that would be 35 cents today. When the Beatles recorded their version in…Postal Service3 min read
Mar 30, 2021Not Leaving on a Jet PlaneRecently, a college student who had spent a semester on the west coast needed to return home to the Midwest. Her parents had booked a round-trip, first-class ticket, a pricy option to ensure her safety during the pandemic. On the trip there, she sat masked and shielded, as did her…Vaccines3 min read
Mar 8, 2021Women’s Rights: What my Granddaughters Need to KnowWhen my granddaughter was twelve years old and had declared her intention to be the first woman president, she was shocked to learn that in 1940, a widow supporting two children earned half the salary of her male co-workers at a public relations firm. “That’s not fair,” she declared. Indeed…International Womens Day5 min read
Mar 4, 2021I Said It Then… I Say it NowSlogans That Still Resonate If you are a person of a certain age, you probably remember saying some of the following in the late 1960s or early 1970s: Make Love Not War Power to the People Do your own thing Right on Don’t Trust Anyone over 30 Tell it like it is. Women belong in…Slogans3 min read