Posted by Edith Cook on Sunday, February 26, 2012,
In :
Reading Life
"My pleasure," someone said recently when I thanked him for an unexpected kindness. I have reflected on that phrase ever since. For one thing, I'm pretty sure his gesture wasn't an unmitigated joy. Id did cost him something: extra time, a bit of inconvenience. Nevertheless, he answered with the courtesy phrase.
Now you may say: It's just an idiom, one of the many sayings that allow human interactions to proceed smoothly. That may be so, but it made me reflect because I had never used the ph... Continue reading ...
Posted by Edith Cook on Saturday, February 18, 2012,
In :
Reading Life
"I like your essays. You write things that readers want to read," someone in my exercise class said recently about my WTE column. I smiled, remembering how many things I'd written, and attempted to publish, that nobody in the business felt strongly enough about to give me a leg up. An entire manuscript sits on my desktop, ready to go, if things should change. But maybe I learned something from my failures. Maybe I learned to let go of the desire to amount to something in the eyes of family, c... Continue reading ...
Posted by Edith Cook on Thursday, February 9, 2012,
In :
Reading Life
Fretting about the future is as useless as bemoaning the past; still, as sentient beings we can't help wonder what the future might bring, just as we can't keep ourselves from considering past acts that we might have handled better. As we age, the future is less important for our own existence--we know where we are headed--as it is for the continued existence of a child or grandchild. What does life have in store for this boy twenty years from now, when he'll be in search of a mate and a job...
Though I now live in Wyoming, I make frequent return trips to California with visits to travel club members along the way. At home I play classical guitar, enjoy gardening and cooking, and participate in group yoga. Getting together with family and friends is high on my agenda. I value people who write or make music and love it when my adult children and their offspring play their instruments, sing songs with me, or discuss what they read and write. Such gatherings help me cope with the losses in my life, which have been severe. Next year I hope to visit family in Germany.