Category: Columns
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Friendship
When it comes to true friendship between two people, many of us don’t know what that means. When we call someone our BFF, what does that really mean? Is it just something people say when they hang out once in a while? Or is it something else entirely? Let me tell you what I think:…
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A FEELING OF SORROW
On a bitterly cold Wednesday morning a couple of weeks ago I walked slowly up Beacon Hill towards the Church on The Hill. I was walking slow not because of my COPD, but because it was particular day that I have come to dread. It was December 21, National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Services were…
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The People will Stand up to Donald Trump
“The president-elect is the most dangerous man in America. The question now, for which there is as yet no answer, is: Who will stand up to him?” — Michael A. Cohen, Boston Globe columnist, December 8, 2016 The answer is, we the people will. Not Cohen’s list of politicians and leaders who have been benefiting…
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Femme Fatale
She walked through the door with one of my regular customers, and all eyes locked on to her. She knew it too. As she moved I watched her walk, tall, beautiful, swaying slowly. Her eyes dropped into mine. Little did I know, Heather was going to play a major part in my life, and then…
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Being Grateful
Thanksgiving was never on my list of favorite holidays long before the real stories of the Pilgrims and Native Americans emerged. When I was young, growing up in New York, I never experienced those Hallmark moments of the family gathered around a large table with an overly stuffed turkey and all the fixings. No one…
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The Legalization of Marijuana
The legalization of marijuana has brought back many memories. Let me tell you a story about my life in 1967. I was struggling with heroin addiction and had finally sworn off the stuff. But back then, being clean meant just not shooting heroin. Marijuana was a nothing drug. Everyone smoked. When I kicked heroin, my…
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Continuing to try to be the change
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with a group of women in Upstate New York at an oasis. An oasis of intellectual thought and civil discourse, things I felt were missing from everyday life in this election year. The oasis is called Chautauqua. It’s mission statement declares that “it is…
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“Do Not Resist”—A Movie About the Militarization of Our Police Force
As I write this, the outcome of the election is unknown. Many people will be happy; many people will be upset. The fact that our country could be so divided has brought about a police force that is now being gifted with weapons of war that are no longer being used in the Middle East.…
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Continuing to try to be the change
A few months ago I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with a group of women in upstate New York at an oasis. An oasis of intellectual thought and civil discourse, things I felt were missing from everyday life in this election year. The oasis is called Chautauqua. It’s mission statement declares that, “it is…
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Trump needs to listen to, not condemn, those protesting him
After a particularly hellish election season, Donald Trump hit the necessary 270 electoral votes to take the Presidency despite Hillary Clinton being on track to win the popular vote. And there really isn’t a word to describe the calamity that has ensued. As soon as the news was announced, a barrage of petitions, blog posts,…