I had a migraine headache today…and then I looked at the calendar and remembered: three years ago today the Lakewood police officers were gunned down as they sipped Sunday morning coffee. Sometimes our bodies remember grief when our memories do not actively recall. I wrote…
I'm a huge fan of the book and movie Contact by Carl Sagan. I just reread the book recently. It was written in 1985. And it's amazing to me how Sagan's depiction of a futuristic world never happened in reality. For instance, one of the…
World AIDS Day, December 1, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. World AIDS Day was an idea of two public information officers from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987. Each year 50,000 new cases…
Be careful how you refer to older people. Your words may become your destiny when you are older. According to a recent HealthDayNews article: Seniors who tend to think of other older people as spry instead of decrepit are far more likely to bounce back…
I have shopped only once on the day after Thanksgiving – at nine in the morning I ventured out and bought my husband an electric razor, a nice, expensive, razor. He loved it and I vowed “never again” to the shopping day. Instead, I wander…
It wasn’t all just talking turkey – or eating only turkey at the first Thanksgiving. Did you know? The first Thanksgiving was a three-day harvest feast Governor William Bradford sent four men to hunt birds for the feast while the Wampanoag contributed five deer The…
And so on this day of thanks, if you are looking for inspiration for words to say around the table, to one another, please consider the magnificent poem "Listen" by W.S. Merwin. It's not sentimental. It's not sweet. It's not Hallmarky. Rather, he expresses gratitude,…
We remember those MICKEY MOUSE CLUB shows where cool kids sang and danced in dizzying Disney style. Bonita Lynn Fields Elder, mouseketeer, who went on to sing and act, has died at the age of 68. Somehow, I have those teens frozen in time; their…
During a recent discussion of our favorite hard liquor, the Irish priest in my chaplaincy internship program mentioned that he gives up all alcohol in November, in honor of the dead. It's an Irish tradition, he said, though it's dying out there. In the US,…
Our primate friends may also feel that dip in delight in midlife, according to recent studies. “Researchers from Scotland, Japan, Germany and America studied 336 chimpanzees and 172 orang-utans in zoos.” Seems the creatures exhibit a bit of disinterest in life around mid-life and jockey…
The end of Twinkies has been big news for several days (see Cathy's great post below). Even the priest Sunday at Mass in my temporary Chicago parish mentioned it. He also mentioned the end of Kodak (the camera company filed for bankruptcy last January). He…
Many of us ate them in our school lunches: Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes…the list goes on. But soon, those confections made of…well, some real food and a lot of junk… may live only in our memories. And perhaps on our hips, too. RIP (retire in plastic?).…
Later today my son and I will slip away to the local courthouse and witness the creating of new families as judges finalize adoptions for local families. My son always wants to attend the annual event. He claimed it was for the teddy bears years…
Last night, as I waited for the "L" in Chicago, I called my husband in Spokane on his cell. No answer, but I got back an immediate text that read: I"m in a meeting." My husband, happily retired since 2005, is never really in meetings…
My mom turns 92 today. I just called her from Chicago to wish her a Happy Birthday. She was out to lunch with my sisters and a cousin, celebrating. She has outlived my dad and her older age companion, Hollis, all her siblings and in-laws.…
Yesterday, Lance Armstrong tweeted a photo of himself reclining on his sofa surrounded by his yellow jerseys from The Tour De France. The journalist in me says: What arrogance, what denial. And I will still say this here. But what I've been learning in "chaplain…
I realize now, with less than a month to go in Chicago, that I brought way too many clothes. Even if I wear a different outfit every day until I return home, I won't wear all the stuff I packed. So I've had "stuff" on…
There's been some buzz about Diane Sawyer seeming drunk on election night. Conan O'Brien did a terrific compilation of others who have appeared drunk on air. My spin: She was simply exhausted. It does weird things to your brain, especially the older you are. I…
The older I get, the more I say: "In my lifetime, I wonder if I'll see." I often focus on the things that seem impossible, such as women priests in the Roman Catholic faith tradition.In 1982, when I was a journalism fellow working in Congress…
I felt stirring of sadness and grief today walking by two polling places in Chicago where I am living for three months on sabbatical. There were lines of people waiting to vote. The sun was out, though it was chilly, and people were chatting each…
Election Day, finally! When I woke up this morning I remembered the election days of my youth. My parents would host or attend a party – on a school night! They would wear those silly straw hats trimmed in red, white and blue, and wear…
My friend Chris who had breast cancer surgery last week had a bit of a rocky day yesterday, the third day following surgery. She had heard from several people that the "third day" is often the hardest following surgery. Third days. That's also when houseguests…
I watched the NBC Sandy Relief Concert Friday night and noted pretty quickly how many baby boomer age folks participated, including Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Tyler, Jon Bon Jovi, Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny DeVito, Brian Williams, Matt Lauer. The event raised $23 million…
I got an email recently from Steve Becker, a former newscaster and media expert, who has been around in media ways forever. He's leaving Spokane for new opportunities in Vancouver. Steve and I crossed paths many times during my 27 years at The Spokesman-Review, and…
Chaplains are often asked by patients in hospitals to pray with them right before surgery. During this chaplaincy internship during my sabbatical from the newspaper, it has been great to learn prayers from other faith traditions. Some I'm learning from other chaplains, but most from…
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.
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