Largely, people are rising to the task during these extraordinary times. Our friends and family have been heroes to us. But. There’s a Lincoln automobile commercial that shows a woman in a luxurious remote house looking out at her luxurious driveway. One Lincoln car is parked in the drive. Another pulls up. She’s traded in […]

 Every night at 8 pm, our neighborhood has a social distancing party. Saturday’s was an especially good party–it was Mike’s first. Two weeks ago today Mike was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago with the COVID 19 virus. Here are some things that happened at home while he was away: When I let […]

Great news! Beth got her cast off! I can’t remember when, though. And all that, well, it seems like a long time ago. Between eight days in isolation at home with a fever, six nights in the hospital, and three nights in isolation at a boutique hotel that the city used to keep me until […]

When I was a teenager, I’m guessing around 15—which would’ve made it 1972—I was watching TV with my dad. He’d just come home from a company picnic/softball game. And he was buzzed. This was a rarity. In fact, it’s the only time I remember seeing him tipsy. I don’t remember if I saw that as […]

Back in the 1980s, between Beth’s eyes and Gus’ genetic predicament, our little family used a lot of health care. We had insurance, thank goodness, but we still ended up with substantial debt that took years to resolve. In our 20s then, we’d learned early what it’s like to structure our lives around the top priority: […]