Pic of the week: Cautionary Tale
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Let me preface the sharing of this picture by noting that Benjamin is fine. Though he will need a follow-up with an ophthalmologist once the swelling is gone.
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How to survive being a long-distance grandma to a baby
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I first fully grasped the definition of the word 'bittersweet' in late 2007, when I learned I was going to be a grandmother. I was thrilled to have a grandbaby on the way, but it literally hurt my heart to know I'd be only a minor player in the baby's daily life, due to how far away my new grandchild would live.
Yes, I was a long-distance grandma from the get-go. I’m still a long-distance grandma to the one who first made me a grandmother. To his two brothers, as well.
Read MoreGramma learns a lesson: boys and bracelets
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My long-distance grandsons have what they call “the home phone,” an iPhone Brayden, Camden, and Declan all have equal access to for communicating with friends and family (approved by Mom and Dad).
Occasionally my phone dings and pings over and over as I get a flood of gifs and goofy emojis texted from “the home phone.” As my grandsons don’t indicate who it is doing the texting, I have to guess according to what the message contains. If text is included, it’s typically Brayden …
Read MoreFlashback: Sink, swim, or hold on!
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Dear readers: This flashback feature originally appeared on Grandma’s Briefs March 4, 2010. Update: I’m still holding on “with a steel-plated grip because I have no other option.” How about you? Thank you for reading my rerun.
Back in the '80s, before the real estate market crash that marked the end of that decade, I worked for a mortgage company. Business was good, and we were rewarded well by the company's owner.
One of the bigger rewards we once received was a day offwork ... and on the owner's boat. On a day we should be processing loans, the entire office (it was a small office) would get to don bathing suits and hang out at the reservoir, on a boat, sipping beer in the sunshine.
I didn't want to go. I really did not want to go.
I didn't want to go because despite having been born in Minnesota…
Read MoreFlashback: 10 signs of aging gracefully
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Dear readers: This piece on the secret to aging gracefully originally appeared on Grandma’s Briefs on March 24, 2013. Six years later, the signs still resonate with me. I hope they do with you, too. Thank you for reading my rerun.
When it comes to aging gracefully, forget the face creams, hair colors and exercises — the physical manifestations others see as we rack up the years. Instead, I prefer to focus on a different kind of trait that others see, one I think trumps the physical when considering how gracefully others are aging and how gracefully I'm aging myself.
That trait? It's attitude. For, as age is just…
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