I was a resident of massachusetts for over 20 years, my whole adult life until 2006, when i moved here to virginia. i still feel like a boston native, even if i technically wasn’t, and the news of sen. kennedy’s illness hits me as if i am still a constituent. there has not been a time in my life when he wasn’t in office, and of course the kennedy political legacy preceeds even that. he is an icon of possibility for the underdogs in society, re: his work for health care, etc., and his whole family’s similar work. a lot of attention is paid to their tragedies, their flaws, priviledge and all, but the reason they are so iconic is their hearts and work for the underpriviledged including the creation of special olympics. theirs is a family that many try to point out their difference from the everyman by pointing out negatives, but the fact of the matter is the legacy of this huge family is that, having priviledge, they do not forget the rest of us, and work for the least priviledged among us. may the rest f us be so bold. my heart goes out to the whole family at this time. and may i raise my children as well as Mother Kennedy did.

my boys, and my new baby girl. not possessions, but of anything in my life, they are what i can truly say are mine and most precious. things are only temporal.

i’d have to say i got a great laugh w/my 13 yr old (a rather morose fella) yesterday over one moment in a “scrubs” repeat where the character Dr. Perry Cox is reluctantly returning an offer of advice and says to JD Dorian, “Look out for Johnny the tackling Alzheimer patient” and the timing here is perfect, JD says “whu-?” and a guy leaps from nowhere shouting, “who am I?!” and tackles JD a la a great old mel brooks type of comedic moment, right out of the frame. i’m still laughing over that one.

i lived around boston for 25 yrs. 2 years in se va. moved for new husband’s new job opp, it’s ok, but i’m a lefty liberal in military zone. i miss a lot about new england and boston. i know, i’m crazy for missing harsh winters, etc, but i love snow. i miss culture, architecture, sense of history instead of sea of big box stores, i miss winding hilly roads, quirky cafes and galleries, easy vegetarian ordering and intelligent conversations with old friends face to face, autumn, transitory short spring in explosions of color. livable summers and a fireplace you want to light in winter. i miss crisp breezes, warm sweaters and apple picking. i miss harvard square, no matter how homogenized it’s getting, and roads that don’t make sense, but i know like the back of my hand. i miss the mfa, the public garden and the smell of middle eastern street cart food. i miss indian food, various regions, thai, a slice in the north end. i miss gray days that seem to go on forever then a sudden burst of blue sky bright day that makes you feel alive. sunny days are verboten here, easy to take for granted and the bad weather is terrible like our recent storm -4.28.08 -that tore a neighboring town apart. i miss a good harmless blizzard, batten down the hatches and all. i’ll be alright though. starting to appreciate little things down here.

with a newborn at 42, a 9 year old with autism, a 13year old, a husband, a live-in motherinlaw, it’ll never happen, but i do enjoy the dream of creative alone time to get back to my writing, maybe finish my novels, screenplays, volumes of poetry….gardening, singing made up melodies unself-consciously at the top of my lungs…..

i am mixed on this. i say know your audience when you address. first, i was raised to respect my elders with ma’am or sir or title and last name, 2nd, if not familiar, an excuse me or “can i get you anything” if in service industry. i think the confusion comes with that little plural you that sounds and looks the same as singular, but hey, it’s gramatically correct. however, if a younger or peer audience (42) i have been known to use guys myself.

well, i’ve been sleeping in big old t’s since jr high. first dad’s and big bro’s, then in the mid to late 80’s all t’s were big and boxy, then husband #1’s, now husband #2’s. hot summer nights, nothing, as long as my butt is covered by sheet, and my kids don’t sneak in for a cuddle before i slip something on. oh, now i am nursing newborn, so a sleep nursing bra and nightgown, but it’s short enough to qualify in t category.

there comes a time, whether, b/c of number of children delivered or just for dignity’s sake, that we must recognize it’s time to cover our midriffs. now, demi moore, more power to her, but after my kids, at the same age my belly will never be that tight and stretchmark free, short of surgery, which i won’t do. so, no bikinis, low waisted pants and short shirts for me!

stand up for yourself and for what you believe. love well, be kind, walk in spirit and as if everything you do absolutely matters for yourself, for the greater community and for future generations. don’t forget to have fun, do what you love, and f*** ‘em if they can’t take a joke.

price of eggs and my parents’ foreclosure in their 70’s on the house we grew up in and were provided very well for in in our day.

whoopi, i swore off the view after rosie fiasco - loved her - in doing so, i gave kudos to the view for filling demographic with you. didn’t watch for a long time, but am on bedrest and eventually my remote finger landed back there. thank you for bringing a sane “outsider” voice full of compassion and humor to the show. still love joy’s smart zingers, too….i am as liberal as they come, and to hear myself voiced thru you and joy makes me feel less crazy loner out here in a military suburb, etc…there are more of us here than the genral public seems to think or want to admit…..

we all know a woman needs to be tenacious to be taken seriously, while any man just needs that old charisma…..to be tenacious isn’t necessarily likable, but it’ll get the job done. obama has basically said he’d hand over details to the appropriate people,while being a public inspiration; while we know hrc is more likely to fine tooth comb every detail of similar policies. that’s another quality women need to overcome the old boys club. being personally invested at every level. kinda like the difference between how a woman cleans the household bathroom vs a man : every corner scrubbed vs what hair or pee spot on the seat or wall? toothpaste blobs mixed with stubble on sink 2 weeks later and the still don’t see it? i know, i grew up with 2 bros, in my 2nd marriage, and have 2 sons. thank god at 42, i finally have a daughter on the way! if hill makes it now, it’ll be so much easier for my girl than it has been for me…and i ain’t talking bathrooms anymore!

bottom line we all embellish, none of us like to get caught. still my favored candidate tho i am torn, too. however, any thinking person should be torn in this process. who said freedom and representative governance would be easy? beats fudged vote counts in your gov brother’s state and a judicial decision by a conservative court…..only the beginning of the 8 years of lies we’ve lived thru and are seeing the fall out from now…..

very good question. obviously it brings up intense stuff for us all in the different ways we relate to each of our parents. my father was a classic relatively distant quiet type, however my brothers and i always had the sense that he taught us integrity, respect for him, individuals and for ourselves and the room to roam creatively or around the neighborhood, etc. we alsways had the sense we were taken care of, and allowed to make our own mistakes and grow from them. i definitely had a superman view of him for most of my life. life circumstances at this point are proving his all too human fallibity now that he’s in the last phases of life….our mother was narcissitic and had mental health (never addressed) and health issues which made our lives very difficult in her constant criticism, inability to please her no matter what, everything and nothing we did was ever seen as positive and always was about her rather than our own growth. thanlk god for the sense of one stable parent. i recall a conversation w/ my father from when i was in college and home for a weekend. there had been another incredibly vitriolic fight with my mother where she was blaming some unknown public humiliation on me yet again. I was sobbing and throwing my belongings back into my little car to head back to school. my father was trying to explain her yet again, and i said the boys and i don’t have a choice, she’s our mother, but you do, why didn’t you ever leave her rather than put up with her insanity, and to my dying days i will never forget his answer, “someone has to take care of her.” i recently relayed this story to some in laws, re: the mental illness of one of their own, and this aunt of my husband, replied, “now that’s love.” so you can see why i have had a lifetime of idolizing view of my father. though i am now able to see that he was not perfect, either.but he was always honorable.

i’m with joan ganz cooney on this one. the layers of lies involved in an alcoholic relationship. your gut tells you to question, your heart tells you to trust. it took me 12 years and 2 kids to get out of mine……anyone in a similar situation, trust your gut and get out!