My mother was my best friend. She was my cheerleader, my shoulder to cry on, my role model, and my soft place to fall. I can remember thinking that I would be unable to cope on any level if and when I lost her. I’m embarrassed to say that more than a few times [...]
My little game
I’m pondering another life change. I don’t know if it counts as a risk, but I think any change is inherently risky, so here goes: I’m thinking about closing in. Cutting back. Focusing. Minimizing. Simplifying for a while. If you know me, you know this is a ridiculous idea. I can’t resist opportunities for adventure, [...]
Remembering 9/11
I’m quite sure everyone remembers where they were on 9/11. I think it is essential that we remember, even though we may be tempted to forget. In trying to forget, it’s possible we will also forget all the goodness that has happened since that tragic day. I am sharing my story and encourage you do [...]
Hoping for Risk
Why does every call for help feel so risky? I am working up the courage to reach out to my mom’s friends, old and new, for help with her social life. What am I afraid of? I’m afraid they’ll pull away, of course. Why would they do that? Because they too are afraid . . [...]
Being here now
I’m risking making space in my life for the present. I was inspired by Debbie Kerr’s recent post about cleaning out her closet. I have a lot of stuff in my house right now. Much of it came from the homes of my mother and mother-in-law. Their extra belongings filled our extra space, as we [...]
Whole Lotta Riskin’ Goin’ On
After blogging here for over a year, I’ve come to a few conclusions: You can’t work with, hang with or converse much with Laura Biering without some riskiness rubbing off on you. Risk is integral to the larger picture of living a conscious life and that knowledge, for me at least, is what makes risking [...]
Saying “I Can’t”
It always seems like a risk to admit that I can’t do something. Fortunately, I’m learning to take that risk more often. I recently admitted to myself that I can’t do everything I’m trying to do for my mom. It was tempting to beat myself up for being imperfect, but I knew better. The important [...]
Risking the Truth: April 22, 2011
This afternoon, I felt the truth pour out of me as I let go of pent-up anger and sadness. For months I’ve done my best to deal bravely with my mother’s increasing dementia. Today I finally had enough. After a hectic morning, I came home to my family and said what I felt: that this [...]
Risking Emoting
I love to listen to Story Corps on NPR. I love the concept of people sharing stories that will be archived and held safely for the world to hear. We are our stories and when we share, we connect at a very deep level. The risk about story corps for me comes from the fact [...]
Risking Being Here In This Community
First I want to apologize to all of you for missing my post last month. In September a room became available in the assisted living community we had picked out for our Mom, and my sisters and I had to make the decision to move Mom and then to actually accomplish said move in a very [...]
