The penultimate episode of the series This Is Us shows Rebecca lying comatose at the end of her life. Those of us who remember Carolyn at the end of her life will see the parallel of Rebecca’s loving family and friends surrounding her as she drew her last breath. We all did the same […]

   Carol noted one evening recently how around this time we tend to share stories of our departed spouses more frequently than other times of the year. April is the month that Mike died in an automobile accident, and also the month Carolyn was admitted to the hospital for treatment of leukemia from which she […]

   We both agreed the two main actresses in the movie were familiar. Carol Googled both, but neither had been in anything we’d seen. About 20 minutes into the movie, we both could predict what was going to happen next. It hit both of us at the same time: we’d already seen this movie. Well, […]

Dear Diary,   Reid genuinely surprised me with an offer to spend our 2nd wedding anniversary at Laguna Beach. He booked us into a wonderful hotel and made reservations at a great Mexican restaurant. That in itself would be special enough, but the best part of the reservations was that they were both set for […]

   The moment I tested negative for Covid after testing positive for almost two weeks, sympathetic messages began pouring in. “So sorry to hear you’ll be out and about again,” was the general sentiment expressed. Since my symptoms throughout the two weeks were mild, there were no health worries; all I had to do was […]

   Carol and I joined the Omicron club this week. Her symptoms began a day or two before mine, and then we both tested positive for Covid. With all the grit and resilience of a Yonkers girl, Carol accepted her fate, making a pot of chicken soup (out of what was supposed to be chicken […]

   Dear Diary,    Well, I got a pretty good peak behind the curtain at how things would have gone in the house while I was away. (I postponed the planned spa weekend in Arizona that I’d won in a Covid vaccination contest sponsored by my health insurer, as a result of developing some last […]

   The main phalanx of Madigans rolled into the local burger joint like the first Roosevelt Administration, a collection of siblings, cousins, neighbors and parents to celebrate a boy’s 9th birthday. The pool table was the first casualty, cues and balls used in ways never intended by the rules of the game. I was on […]

   I was in my 70th year when I asked Carol Madigan to meet me in person, after only a few weeks of exchanging wise cracks via Facebook PM. At this point I was smitten by someone simultaneously wielding a sweet disposition and a Yonkers cutting wit. I was in over my head once again, […]

 Dear Diary, Reid wants to be cremated and his ashes flushed down the toilet. I really do wish this was some dream I had after eating pizza late. At first, I thought he was just being “Adolescent Reid,” you know, the Reid that never wants to get his haircut, eat vegetables or change his clothes. […]