With a Full Heart

It sometimes seems to me that courtesy has ceased to exist. The words that we had drummed into us, and that were drummed into our children, “please and thank you” are often hard to come by. And, “excuse me” has completely vanished. I don’t think that this is an indication of me being “old fashioned,”…

There are so many ways to approach relationships, both personally and professionally. Some of us hold ourselves apart and watch, engaging only when we choose to engage. Some of us seek control of situations and interactions, certain that the way we want things to play out is the best way, maybe the only way. There…

Perhaps you remember that fragment of a phrase from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” The phrase that has always stuck with me is “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” and the poem, of course, goes on to describe the decision that has to be made, a decision that is to take the…

I am not sure if this is a character flaw or an asset. I’m not sure if it is a “female” thing or a side effect of my childhood. What I do know is that it is part and parcel of who I am, who I have always been and who I suspect I will…

Last night we had a lovely dinner in a local restaurant. Soft, instrumental music was playing and it was a nice backdrop to our conversation. One piece of music was not really distinguishable from the rest until we got up to leave and were standing near the door for a moment. Within the blend of…

It’s no secret that we live our lives at breakneck speed. We cram every minute with action, either, or both, professionally or personally. We race from one square on our game board of life to the next square, rarely taking time to think about where we have been but, rather, focusing on where we are…

I was recently asked to share a favorite story about my mother. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? After all, if you were to ask my children they would have multiple stories to share. Most of them would be stories that exposed one of those behaviors that causes them to murmur “Mom,” and shake their heads, but…

For years, my husband has told me that I need to have an agent. When someone asks me to do something, I would say “You have to call my agent” and the agent would say—you guessed it—a resounding “No!” Obviously, he thinks that I am incapable of saying that word myself. And, in truth, he…