My mom died in 2003 of COPD. It took a long time and my sister lived with her in a duplex. My sister wouldn’t have had a home had my mom not taken her and her youngest child in after her divorce, but that never stopped my sister from calling me and moaning, "When will this be over?" I teach and went to my mom every day after school and stayed with her until 11, when I went home to my family. My sons tried to visit after school when they could and my husband when he could. I brought my mom dinner because she was never a big eater and when she wanted to eat, it was a real occasion. I was thrilled when she would actually eat. She was wonderful. Hated to make work for anyone. I am only sorry that she could not have stayed with me. My sister is a screamer, and my mom did not have to hear that at the end of her life. When she was gone, my sister lost the will, kept the house, and told me to get lost. I was glad to go. I have what really matters, the hours I spent with my mom, the photos she told me to take with me, the love she gave me. My sister never knew that at the end, my mom would ask me, "Why is she such a bitch?"

I enjoy entertaining, but it took me a while to get to this point. I learned how to cook and how long to cook and I started out with a guest, not guests, and worked my way up. I also learned how to make dishes that look complicated but are simple and almost make themselves and everyone thinks I am wonderful. I am, but I am really smart. I do not kill myself. I do not have any pine cones and I do not want any. I do some crafts, but I don’t decorate my house with them. Who wants a craft decorated house? I want a quality decorated house. I buy good things that I can’t make and that I admire. I don’t make my clothes and my jewelery. Why would I even try to make my napkin rings? Martha can do whatever she wants. I will do what I want. By the way, making a fancy dinner isn’t hard, once you know how. You just have to know how, have the motivation to learn, have the desire to do it, want to cook for guests, and decide that you don’t care about spending a lot of time in the kitchen. I don’t, on occasion. Most of the time I’d rather make the smart dishes. So that’s what I do. And no pinecones.  

I must be the luckiest woman in the world.  My sons each found adorable, intelligent, feisty, good humored, hard working, nicely curvy, spirited, charming girls who are delightful and fun and beautiful and all anyone could ever wish for and who are also able to stand up to my two boys.  I love them and wouldn’t trade them for anything.  I look forward to the day when they decide to have children (they all want kids, eventually) and until then I have to be content with grandcats.  I thank God every day.

Just threaten to call the police and tell them you are being harrassed.  I did this and they no longer bother me.  It is not only here, though. While I was living in Rome, a friend and I were followed all over the city one Saturday morning as we shopped by an American JW who yammered at us until we went to a police officer who told him to leave us alone.  Then, the cop followed us for a half hour, but the Italians don’t try to convert you. 

I know that this is supposed to be a romantic wish, but if I could really have my true desire, I would wish that my son’s next MRI would show that the MS has magically disappeared and would never return. That’s what I want.

I am the mother of two grown sons and have no idea of what it would be like to raise  14.  I also believe that children need two parents.  I have taught too many who are without either father or mother and it makes a huge difference.  I have also come to the point where I do not want to support other people’s children.  I know that there are many who feel that we, who work, should pick up the slack for those who do not, and in the case of those who are afflicted physically or have mental or psychological problems that causes them to be unable to function in the work world, I completely understand and agree that we should help them.  However, I am fed up with supporting the results of a fling or a hot date or someone who wanted a big family because she was lonely as a child.  Why do we hold baby showers for high school girls who should be having prom dates instead of labor pains?  Why do we celebrate the fact that she and the father (who may or may not be around in a few months) are having a child that was unplanned and will be, more likely than not, stuck in front of the TV babysitter while mom bemoans her fate.  These pathetic girls do not seem to understand that they are being so unfair to these children who deserve much more than their mothers are able or capable of giving them.  And, though I do feel sorry for them, I don’t want the responsibility either.  My kids are raised.  My husband and I waited until we were married to have them and we worked hard to raise them and provide for them.  If I help anyone out, I want to be able to help my kids should they need it.  I am at the point in life where I do not want to pay for somebody else’s mistakes or desires.  If Ms Suleiman had half a brain, which I am not convinced she has, she would make 8 childless couples happy and go home and take care of the 6 children she already cannot afford.

As a mother of two, born two years apart, I feel for anyone who is raising many (3 or more, in my opinion) children.  My motto was two hands, two kids.However, we felt that we could support two and give them a decent life.  I am not against multiple births.  I certainly understand the desire for a child, and that it would be difficult for a woman who has (finally) become pregnant to make the decision to selectively abort.  What I do not understand is what this woman, Nadya Suleiman, is about.  It seems that she is now looking for a big paycheck.  Her own mother says she is obsessed with children.  How can anyone even think (assuming that she does think, which is debatable at this point) that there would be enough time to give these children to raise them properly?  Kids need you one on one at times and her kids will have too many problems to even think about.  There will be developmental problems that simply come with the territory of multiple births, any possible amount of physical disabilities that may pop up, and then what about the six kids she already has?  They will be pushed aside, not only by the births, but by the media, and the fact that Mom is racing off to visit with Oprah and Dianne Sawyer with the babies.  If Nadya Sulieman makes enough to keep her off the welfare rolls she will mess up her kids.  If she stays on the welfare rolls she will mess up her kids, and you and I will pay to raise them.  I like kids.  I do not love all kids.  I teach them and I really am in their corner, but I do not want to pay for other people’s kids, be they the mistake of two 15 year olds or the non thinking Ms Suleiman.  I have raised mine and am not interested in paying for the raising of any more unless my own were to get to it and give me a couple of grandchildren.  I’d love to spend my money there. I also do believe that her doctor should have his license revoked. He is another non thinker.

Sarah Palin is a horse’s a—. People who like her seem to be unable to reason normally or to think logically. So her daughter has had a baby. Mazel Tov. My mother would have said, he’s here. Let him live and be well. I agree. As far as his name goes, it isn’t what I’d have chosen, but it’s not any of my business, either. She couldn’t control her kids, Sarah, that is. Well, I raised a couple of kids and they’ve turned out to be really good people. They’ve married well (meaning good people, not wealthy ones) and have a good work ethic and treat others well and kindly. They volunteer and keep in touch and people tell me what terrific people they are. However, I will say, and not because they were wild kids, but because they had minds of their own, I would not have sworn for them when they were teenagers. I prayed a lot. I did my best and my older says I kept them in line with guilt. The younger says there is no memory of guilt. Go figure. The fact is that you do your best and hope for the best. Still, I do not believe that the boy will ever marry her. I hope and pray that Palin will never become involved in national politics again. She is nuts, uninformed, and stupid. God helped us this time. Who knows what might happen next time.

On the day Nixon resigned, I was working in Rome and was delighted to see the headlines when I picked up my newspaper that morning. The vendor thought I was an idiot. He told me that Americans are babies who expect politicians to be honest and who are disappointed when they find out the truth, that all politicians are liars and thieves. He said that in Italy when the politicians weren’t smart enough to cover up their illegal activities the government fell and they had new elections, and that the American people should stop being so naive and get used to the truth, that politicians are liars and thieves. Well, he has a point there. Some of them are. But, I guess I am a naive American. I am not, however a stupid American. I was able to see through Sarah Palin in a New York minute. She is a dead loss. (John McCain was, no doubt, a very brave man in Vietnam, but being a survivor does not make one a hero. Sorry, but I had to say it. It’s the truth.) This business with Palin’s daughter (who names a child Bristol? or Track or Trig? I remember Piper Laurie, but wasn’t she named by a Hollywood studio, the kind that names people Rip and Tab?) is very sad for the kid, but it is a shining example of how well abstinence works with teenagers. All of this abstinence training makes lots of sense when you discuss it in a classroom at 11 AM, but all the sense flies out the window when the kids are in the back seat of a car at 11PM, breathing heavy. He isn’t going to marry her. That may be the good part of the whole thing. The sad part is that her mother will make her crazy and everyone in the world knows her story. Good luck, Bristol. God help you. By the way, I read that Palin’s son went to Iraq because the judge gave him the choice of jail or Iraq. Excellent family. Who suggested her to McCain? Thank God for keeping them out of office.

I’m 63. the joke around here is that on my 60th birthday I began to go backward and am now only 57. Who cares. At the age of 51, my career destroyed by the computer and it’s clip art (I was an illustrator and was done in by the client’s ability to hire someone for next to nothing to push a mouse around.) I went back to school and got my masters and certification in elementary education. Since then I have completed a certificate in ESOL and am working on a masters in TESOL. I draw more than I did for years (for myself) and enjoy my art and am told that my work is getting weirder and stranger all the time. I am delighted to hear this. I mean it to. In addition both of my sons have married in the last two years and I have two daughters-in-law who could not be better if I had designed them myself. I am still working and, God willing, will work for, at least, 10 more years. I enjoy my work and the kids are terrific, even the tough ones. I am surer than I have ever been of myself and have a confidence I never had before. For the first time in years I am losing weight and looking good. Obviously there are health issues, mostly genetic, but not horrible. I enjoy life. I do not dread anything. I look forward to each day. I donot suffer fools any more. I just say no or I can’t or I don’t have the time. I do not make excuses. I do what I want to do. My life belongs to me. I am, my kids say, waiting for grandchildren, and it’s true. But, I am not sitting and knitting. I enjoy the babies of my sons’ friends. I hope my kids will get busy eventually, but I can say nothing. I married at 33. I never thought much about getting old. I guess I figured that I would eventually become old and incapable. I feel anything but incapable. I look forward and enjoy my life, my family and my friends. I leave the dust. I can’t say that this is new. I was never much of a housekeeper. The dust will wait, is my motto. I never knew that getting older could be so freeing. I am older and feel better than I ever have before. Viva seniority! I’m in for the long haul.

Sarah Palin is a nut case. She comes to us courtesy of John McCain. John McCain survived 5 years in a cage in Vietnam. I salute him. He is a survivor. He is not a hero. Being a survivor (or a hero, were he one) would not qualify him (or anyone else) to be president. Being kept in a cage for five years messes with your head. This was proven to us when he chose Sarah Palin for his running mate. This is a woman whose son is on his way to Iraq because it was that or jail. Her daughter is pregnant and miserable. (Take a look at the poor kid’s face) The boyfriend doesn’t want the baby. Her husband joined a weirdo group. And she has no foreign policy experience is that she can see Russia from her house. Well, I can see the moon. Does that make me a scientist? The woman is Nutsy the squirrel. I would love to see a woman become president, but the right woman. This one is no smarter than Paris Hilton. Years ago I worked for the UN in Rome. This was during the Nixon administration and I left the country because I was disgusted. I was young and single then. I could leave. Anyway, the day he resigned I picked up my paper on the way to work and when I saw the headline I got all excited. The newspaper seller told me, “The American people are babies. They expect politicians to be honest and good. They are no good. You are all stupid.” I wasn’t in the least bit offended. We are incredibly naive. I didn’t think that we were stupid. I do now. I am convinced that the majority of the people in this country are stupid after the events of the past eight years. If we elect John McCain and the frozen loonie we deserve what we get. Our children, however, do not.

Richard Gere, Pierce Brosnan, Bill Clinton, Harrison Ford. Yes! I can’t help it, but when the face begins to change shape and a wattle develops under the chin, sexy goes out the window for me. I never thought Mick Jagger was sexy. Has a mouth that could swallow Cinncinnati (did I spell that right?) and Keith Richards looks, well, three sheets to the wind on a good day. Not sexy to me. I loved Paul Newman when I was young. I still think he’s one of the finest actors in the world. But he just isn’t my idea of sexy any more. I don’t remember who asked what people saw in Harrison Ford, but it’s easy: possibilities of the most delicious kind. What a hunk! I am a visual being. I am an artist and am attracted first by what I see. Granted that I have often been turned off when the delightful vision opened it’s mouth and my hopes were shattered by the stupidity, inanity, bigotry, lunacy, out and out dullness…you fill in the blank…that spilled forth. I have, however never met any of these easy on the eyes men and so I can hold onto my initial visual impressions (which, consequently, have never been ruined. Luckily I actually met a man who was not only a real hunk but had a brain and a sense of humor. He has lost all his hair but his face is the same shape and he never developed a wattle. He doesn’t even mind mine.

Also, about Hillary, no I think she would have won. She refused to admit her vote on the war.

I am so disgusted with all the noise about Edwards cheating. Personally, I think he is a s- - t for cheating on a wife with a terminal disease. For God’s good sake, how low can a person be? I am nauseated by that facet of the story. However, if we’re going to be honest, it would be difficult to find one politician who does not cheat on his wife, those who have wives, that is. Those who do not do something else, no doubt, that someone would find sinful or distasteful or whatever. Roosevelt, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Johnson, all were ladies men. How many more? Too many, and not just presidents, either. When all the nonsense went down about Clinton, I felt that it was no one’s business but Hillary’s. I still feel the same way. These men will do as they please. They must feel that they can get away with it or they wouldn’t do it. Surely, Clinton didn’t want what grew out of his assignations with Monica Lewinsky any more than Edwards wants the publicity he’s getting now. They are fools. There is no privacy for someone in the public eye. If they refuse to recognize that there is nothing that can be done. I feel so sorry for Elizabeth Edwards, trying to stay alive and well enough to raise her children and now she has to deal with this creep on top of cancer. My mother told me early on that life was not fair, but she never said how unfair it could be. If I were Elizabeth Edwards I would have to kick the bum out. As for politics, well, thank God this shmuck never got enough votes to matter. I wanted Hillary but it was not to be so I will vote for Obama whom I consider a good man and one I believe will be good for this country. I do not expect perfection from him. I think he will make mistakes. After all, he is a human being. I also think he will learn from the mistakes and will become a fine president. I know that unless he transforms into a moron he cannot do worse than the present occupant of the white house who has shamed us in the world, destroyed our economy, presented himself as a complete fool (how could he not, that’s what he is), and cmmited more stupidities than I could list if I sat here all day and night. Let’s give Obama a chance.