Not in Kerryville Anymore

Mick Jagger flower

Grief is a tricky bastard. You are doing the most benign task, have a casual or sweet or amusing thought, and reach for the phone to share the moment. Then, you remember. The other person, in this case my friend Kerry S. Kennedy, isn’t there to read the text or answer the phone or listen […]

I Miss My Dogs

I miss my dog. Both of them, I miss both of my dogs. Amadeus died in April 2015 at the age of 13 and Alexander died in January 2016 at the age of 14. They were littermates and had been with me since they were barely eight weeks old. That’s a long time to love […]

The First Time I Called 911

CN: Discussion of suicide Write about a defining moment in your life when you were forced to grow up in an instant (or a series of instants). My mother has always lived with depression and a host of other ailments, many resulting from a childhood bout of encephalitis that destroyed her short-term memory. She was […]

Saying Farewell to a Furry Member of The Family: RIP Natasha

Pittsburgh cat

This past weekend, Laura and I had the sad task of putting our 17-year-old cat Natasha to rest. It was a decision we made together and knew was for the best, but it was still sad. 17 is a long life for a cat and for the great majority of it, Natasha had a healthy […]

Miss Mona’s Final Day

This was the year 2008. She was “fine” the day before. Well, as fine as  an 11-year-old dog with lymphoma could be. She ate, she played, she wagged her tail. She made her very special Mona sounds – low growls and whines – and she slept. But when I woke up that day, she wouldn’t […]