Last summer I came across a little paperback titled How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price. Intrigued, I read the first few pages, which are the author’s “Dear John” letter to her phone. I was inspired and thought, “Oh, I should definitely read this book,” and put it on my desk where it sat unopened for two months. Finally, for a number of reasons, I felt compelled to pick it up again. After her break up letter, Price spends the first half of the book sharing all the research and...

Last fall, I visited my parents in (not so sunny) California, and lived the retired life for a week. It was glorious. Since we all went to bed so early every night, I basically stayed on East Coast time, waking up bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 4am. I would lie in bed for hours enjoying the book I started on the plane. Richard Russo's 1993 novel Nobody’s Fool   takes place in the fictional small town of North Bath in Upstate New York. It is economically depressed, and its residents are each...

Image by   Eliza  from   Pixabay Here we are once again, wondering just where the year went. How is it already December? It got me thinking about endings and, more specifically, endings that we know are coming, but are inevitable none-the-less. The end of a season, end of a career (retirement), end of a relationship. Sudden endings can be disruptive, overwhelming and sometimes traumatic. But they can also be a psychological “Get Out Of Jail Free” card.  There is no time to process or fret...