I Wanted to Name My Dog Biggie Smalls
What else would you call a six-pound Chihuahua Min Pin? Payton finally can wear something that represents her figurative size. The pink Notorious B.I.G. t-shirt is fitting for this six-pound Chihuahua Miniature Pinscher mix who snuck her way into the heart of this big dog lover. Now, when I say I’m a “big” dog […]
A Town Shattered Yet Strengthened
After Highland Park’s Fourth of July Mass Shooting Today I walked through downtown Highland Park, Illinois with my sister Ellen. We had gone there to buy bracelets that were made to support the Highland Park Community Foundation. We wanted to do something, anything, to help this community after last week’s tragic mass shooting during the […]
5 Great Books for Coping with Grief
Check out my list on Sheperd, where I was asked to compile a list of my favorite books about grieving the loss of a pet. The five books that I chose were great sources of comfort for me when I experienced loss both as a child and as an adult. Similarly, I hope that my […]
Dating During a Pandemic
Originally written by Amy Lee Kite for Divorced Girl Smiling If you’re a writer or a reader, then you likely know of Gabriel Garcia Márquez’ masterpiece: Love in the Time of Cholera. When that book was published in the mid 80s, I was in my early teens, full of vulnerability and openness. I knew […]
Falling In Love Too Soon After Divorce
Reposted from Divorced Girl Smiling By Amy Lee Kite, Divorced Girl Smiling Contributor, M.A., author, blogger, poet and editor Every divorce situation is unique, which is why there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to how soon or how long a person wants to wait to date and/or get into a relationship. […]
So What If a Nutritionist Eats an Occasional Big Mac?
When I was getting my masters in journalism, a professor informed our class that a misspelled subject’s name would result in an automatic “F” on an assignment. Now, 25 years later, I still feel a wave of nausea pass through me if I send an email or even a hand-written note with someone’s name misspelled. […]
Pushing Ourselves, Poetry and the Pandemic
We have all been locked down for several weeks now during this most unusual time. Whether we are full of hope and optimism or fear and despair, we are all here, experiencing this uncertainty. I have loved reading stories and posts about people embracing this time and finding undiscovered joys that were right in front […]
The People Who Show Up For You
This past December, I threw a little last-minute birthday party for myself. With such short notice, I knew that some of my closest friends had plans but would try to stop by to celebrate. The week before, I was talking to one of my best friends (who happens to be an occasional emcee with special […]
Hashtag: I Need More Time
“When Ben was going to college, you wrote like a hundred blogs. I’m leaving tomorrow and you haven’t written anything,” Emily, my college-bound daughter, joked last night. There’s truth to that, and it seems to play right into the stereotypes about birth order. Emily is my middle child. Besides the fact that her older brother […]
A Quiet Truth at Lollapalooza
This weekend is Lollapalooza in Chicago. The music festival has become a four-day event, full of music lovers, fashion lovers and party lovers. For more than a decade, I never missed this festival where I enjoyed many of my favorite bands. My greatest concern was how I was going to get from one stage to the next in time […]