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 Make BelieveThere are times when you feel sad and blueSomething's wrong, you don't know what to doWhen you feel that way, stop and think awhileJust make believe and smile...

[ Jacksonville Farmer's Market Circa 1938]This was the first week that temperatures didn't drop below freezing. Hooray!  The warmer weather has brought on visions of spring and summer menus that include local fresh fruit and vegetables. When I was growing up my mother would shop at the Farmer's Market in Jacksonv...

My son said, "If your happiness depends on their happiness, you will never be happy". Yes, I had read or heard that quote before but this morning, it hit home. I have been keeping my grandchildren for the last week and candidly, these kids aren't happy people. Since their parent's divorce food, clothes, bedtime, getting into the car, playtime and TV viewing are all fraught with danger and the danger increases exponentially as each child weights in on the discussion. My grandchildren lost the...

{Maine}This June it will be one year since my mother died. As I have opened up about the final years of her life, others have shared with me the difficult journey they are on with their aging parents. I watch as one-by-one my friends and extended family are being initiated into a club none of them wanted to join. They work to be kind and loving ch...

{Matthew, my son, and me shopping for a Christmas tree}Unlike the multitude of retail stores in the mall, I don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I want to experience and rejoice in one holiday at a time. The colors of Thanksgiving are the warm shades of autumn. Decorating with burgundy, yellow and orange mums along with the traditional a...

Tomorrow I am beginning a new tradition in our family. As we gather together, we will take a moment to acknowledge those who came before us and are now no longer with us. Nothing overly dramatic or maudlin, just a gentle reminder that who we are today was built on the foundation of our parents and grandparents. Whatever your Thanksgiving traditions, take a moment to remember those who m...

 My excitement level is topping the charts. This year I am hosting Thanksgiving at my home. I will not be making the annual pilgrimage to my parent's home in Florida; those days are over. My kids and grandchildren are coming for their first Thanksgiving in New York; I hope the first of many. I plan to prepare our family's traditional Thanksgiving meal with all our homemade f...

The new favorite tag line of the Madison Avenue world of advertising seems to be "let's go make some memories". The camera follows a zealous 30 something Dad who is bounding out the door as he declares it is time to take the new car and go make some memories. Or better yet as a bunch of hyperactive kids put on their best I can't believe I just won the Miss America contest face as an ann...

{the view from our lakehouse}My father's philosophy was clear, inheritance was all about your place in the family. So it was no surprise that my parent's estate was split evenly between my brother, sister and me. My sister and I did joke that if my mother had her way all their worldly goods would go to the dog, her favorite in t...

When I was a kid, Halloween was the ideal holiday. It was all about creativity and candy. My mom always made costumes for my brother and me. Her greatest design was the one-eyed one horned flying purple people eater based on the novelty song of the same name. Mom was so proud of her creation and our costume was the hit of the neighborhood. Each year we would decorate paper bags with...