The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: advice

  • “Friends Make the Best Lovers.”

    A friend of mine, in her late 70’s, said that to me the other day. My first inward reaction was shock. I mean… she’s old. She shouldn’t be thinking like that! But the older I get, the more I realize what a crazy notion that is. Why do we think that age turns one into…

  • Oh, I Get It. You Don’t Care.

    I have a friend that I enjoy talking to, but I’ve long since discovered that she is not someone to seek out if I want to vent or feel the need for compassion or commiseration. She just doesn’t want to hear it. She’s a classic See-No-Evil type of person. Oh, she’ll be quite happy to…

  • You Cannot Put an Ocean in Your Pocket

    I heard that saying the other day and my gut reaction was, “What kind of crunchy granola bullsh** is that?” I mean, it sounds very Eastern, very Zen, and I often love that sort of thing. I’m open-minded. I’m spiritual. I’m philosophical. But for Pete’s sake, there are limits. But then I sat with it…

  • I Want to be Dear Abby

    I used to love to read Dear Abby and Ann Landers in the newspaper. Even as a small child, I thought that had to be the perfect gig. They got to write, and they could do it in their pajamas. I pictured them sitting there in flannel and bunny slippers, surrounded by stacks of letters…

  • “Crap, I’m an Adult.”

    Recently I was talking to my niece, who is in her late twenties, the mother of two boys, and is working on her Bachelor’s degree. I was telling her how nicely I thought she had turned out, and that not that many years ago she really had me worried. I’m so proud of the woman…

  • Unexpected Wisdom

    In times of confusion or grief or despair, my first instinct is to find answers. Often there are none, but it’s a reflex action to reach out to grab something when you’re falling. Usually I turn to books. At the scattering of my boyfriend’s ashes, a friend gave me a good one. “When Things Fall…

  • Note to Self

    I was thinking today about all the really good advice/ideas/concepts that I, myself, have ignored in my lifetime. I really ought to write them on little post it notes and stick them up all over my house and review them daily. But that’s another idea that I won’t follow through on. So without further ado,…

  • Why can’t People be Saved?

    Okay, before you get all worked up, let me start by saying I’m not talking about religion here. I’m not touching that third rail. At least not in this particular blog entry. I’m referring to the fact that the older you get, the more often you can see some people’s lives as slow motion train…

  • The Best Advice You’ll Ever Get

    A friend of mine posted a meme on her Facebook wall that said: “Teach your teenagers how to handle money NOW or they’ll be living in your basement when they’re 30.” Truer words were never spoken. I was lucky to have a mother who knew the importance of teaching such lessons. As a matter of…

  • Back to School at 46

    A couple of years ago I decided that my life had hit a dead end and that what I needed was a massive “do-over”. So I quit my job, sold my house, and went back to college to get my third degree. The first time around I was straight out of high school, and it…