An icy wind blew off the Fox River last Saturday morning when my friend spotted our first crocus of 2024. Naturally, I knelt down to take a picture. I love crocuses almost as much as I love my friends, and I’ve been thinking lately about their similarities. Crocuses are beautiful and so are my friends. [...]
This year, I am especially thankful for persimmons and all they represent. My particular persimmons arrived unexpectedly, hand picked, dried and packaged from a brand new friend's backyard tree. They looked like little wheels of sunshine, all seeded and eager to please. "Hello there, little guys," I said as I opened up a little packet [...]
Oh, I’d heard about Bunco before, even subbed in a group once. But last week marked the first time I had ever shaken the dice as an honest-to-goodness member of a bunco group. “What’s next, Mahjong?” asked my son Charlie-the-New-Yorker when I told him how excited I was to play the game. “I feel like [...]
It didn't look like much, zipped into a plastic bag and, well there's no other word for it, fermenting on my desk. But my friend Allie asked me if I'd like some friendship starter and, if there's anything I've learned in this long life of mine, it is to open my heart to friendship. So, [...]
Sure and Begorrah we had a great time Sunday afternoon at the Southside Irish Parade. The sun and the spirits of the Kennedy and Mackey families smiled down on us as we found a spot on Western Avenue along with 200,000 of our closest friends. With more than 100 entries representing nearly every parish, union, [...]