The 4 Scariest Words My Husband Can Utter

  I get a cold chill when I hear them. Like someone with post-traumatic stress syndrome, my pulse increases. My stomach tightens. I start feeling light-headed. Did I hear that right? Maybe I got it wrong. But yes, Randy just uttered those frightful words: “I’m going food shopping.” Help me. I’ve heard other women say […]

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Hello Worry, My Old Friend…

  I have few natural talents, but producing anxiety is right up there. It doesn’t take much to get the hamster wheel spinning – a medical test, taking a flight, meeting a new group of people. But having had this affliction all my life, I’ve gotten (if not good) at least better about relieving the […]

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The Things We Do For Love

God bless my husband, Randy. He’s doing something soon he really doesn’t want to do. If left to his own devices, he’d be relaxing in front of the television or playing a gig. But instead, he’s escorting me to a city he hasn’t been for several decades to see someone give a talk he might […]

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The Shocking Day My Husband Intervened

The other morning my husband Randy did something so unexpected, so out of the blue, so sudden, so surprising, I gasped in sputtering disbelief. “Its for your own good,” he said as I stood there, blinking back tears. I never thought I’d see this behavior in my spouse of 37 years. Yes, Randy snatched away […]

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My God. We Have to Trick Ourselves Into Downsizing?

  You know when there’s something you must do, but can’t face it? You find yourself “backing into” the situation, pretending you’re not really doing it…even though you are? That’s how Randy and I feel about selling our home. We tell ourselves we’re only fixing it up after fifteen years – inside and out– because […]

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Are You An Easygoing Pack Rat…or Uptight Purger?

  You know which category you fall into. It’s rare to find someone who encompasses both. My husband Randy and I are extreme examples of each side, so trust me…I get this. At times, I’ve even wondered if our marriage could survive such challenging, pervasive, teeth-gnashing differences. Not sure whether you’re packrat or purger? Here […]

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Inside the Crazy, Mixed-Up World of Retirement

Life is backwards these days. In what seemed like seconds, I went from many years of my husband Randy away on business (while I stayed home with two kids) to the kids gone and Randy home. We’ve become this interesting hybrid of our bohemian twenties and creaky sixties. Some things I thankfully do less of […]

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Is It True? Do Opposites Attract?

My husband Randy and I are a good team. We always have been. And yet, as we’ve both adjusted over the years to his retirement — and him being home all the time — I see now how different we are. I’ve even wondered how we managed to survive all these years, still loving and […]

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