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“If the story you’re telling doesn’t serve you, tell a different story.” I typed that while taking my morning walk and listening to my current favorite podcast, “Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris.” I wanted to remember the quote to share it with someone, which I did. And I thought I might want to listen to the episode again. If only I had written down which episode I was listening to at the time! I can never remember where I’ve heard things. There I go. Telling a story about...
Spending a few days in a small guest house on Knapp Creek Farm in Wisconsin provided just the break we needed a couple of weeks ago. We headed out on a Wednesday night after the paper was done, a little later than we had hoped, given the four-hour drive. We were heading toward Viroqua, Wis., a town my husband, Dan, had visited on a fly fishing trip with Joseph Meyer (who opened a shop called One More Cast in Countryside after spending years at Luv It! in Gateway Square). Dan...
For three and a half years, plastic cups in the fence on the 47th Street bridge have reminded many of the courage young Brooks Tonn of Hinsdale displayed in his fight against cancer. The cups spell out two words: "Brooks Strong." Now Brooks, who passed away in December 2017 after a year-long battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, will be remembered in a more permanent way. The Illinois House of Representatives voted 118-0 May 12 to name the bridge the Brooks Edwin Tonn Memorial Bridge....
I wouldn't call Jim Slonoff a liar. After all, he's my friend of more than 30 years and business partner here at The Hinsdalean. But he does, at times, play fast and loose with the truth. Someone called The Doings once with a question about a tree, which none of us could answer. I can't remember the specifics. But I know when Jim heard about it, he offered us a lengthy explanation about squirrels and nuts and the acidity of the soil. He sounded very convincing. And then I...
Charlie Harley stopped in Monday to let us know about the Armistice Day celebration in Burr Ridge May 15 — at which he will receive the Jack Schaus Patriot Award. I told him I wished I could come, but we are having a small memorial service for my mom, who died in November. “Of course you have to go to that,” Charlie said. “After all, you only ever have one mother.” “Well,” I responded. “I’ve got an interesting story for you.” And so I told him about being adopted and taking...
I had great dreams for myself as a parent before I became one. I was going to spend each and every day laughing with and enjoying my children (back when I thought I would have more than one). I remember thinking once that my best friend, who at the time was experiencing a trying moment with her 7- or 8-year-old twins, should just have a better sense of humor. Then things would go so much more smoothly. I now find that hilarious. Just last night I told Ainsley I don't have a...
I don't remember the last movie I saw in a theater. Do you? Ooh, wait - I do. I saw "Frozen 2" on March 8 of last year - the day after I was out much too late at the cast party for "Hinsdolopy," the 2020 Community Revue. (I discovered after the previous revue that watching a movie in a reclined seat with some snacks helps with post-show/post-party recovery.) Since then, I've seen "Troop Zero," "Onward" and "Soul" from the comfort of my family room, where the seats don't...
“Let be be finale of seem. The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.” I used those lines from Wallace Stevens in the first round of a grad school party game. Recite a quote or drink a shot. Or it might have been recite a quote and drink a shot — I’m not sure. Either way, I wouldn’t recommend the game. First, because games that involve drinking shots typically are not a good idea. Second, because this one makes me sound like a real nerd. I thought of the quote — and the game — because April is National Poetry Month....
My memories of taking Ainsley to Disney World when she was 5 are magical. We rode many wonderful rides, met many princesses and ate dinner at Cinderella's castle, with Ainsley dressed as a perfect miniature of the palace owner. We picked a week when attendance was historically low and never waited more than 40 minutes in line. We had a slightly different experience over spring break when we visited a crowded Universal Studios and its Islands of Adventure. I usually don't...
How will women be remembered in history? Clearly it depends on whom you ask. Esquire magazine identified the 75 greatest women of all time a couple of years ago. The headline popped up in one of my Google searches Monday afternoon and I was intrigued. I suppose I should not have expected too much after reading the blurb that accompanied the list: “Politicians, pop stars, Native American guides: A definitive list of the women who have shaped the world. Well, inasmuch as definit...
I remember when my mom first uttered the words. "The doctors are all kids!" she told me. My father, who was a brittle diabetic, had been hospitalized again. My mom - younger at the time than I am now - couldn't believe how youthful the medical professionals looked. From then on, she would periodically offer this assessment of any adult who was under the age of 30. They all looked like kids to her. I heard a similar comment from a co-worker's husband at an office Christmas...
The Muppets are back. And they are offensive. That's the message attached to 18 of the 120 episodes of the family variety show, which Disney Plus launched Friday. You remember them, right? Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, the Swedish Chef? And those crabby old guys in the balcony? I loved watching the show, which aired from 1977-81. I have absolutely no memory of Johnny Cash singing "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" in a barn decorated with the U.S. flag and the Confederate...
Perhaps you’ve heard the famous Albert Camus quote: “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” I appreciate Camus’ message of resilience. Really, I do. But I am not feeling summer, invincible or any other type, within me. This winter — and in particular, this past week — has beaten me. Our high temps since Saturday have ranged from a mere 5 degrees to 24 on Tuesday, with lows ranging from -2 to 13. We might get up to 26 today, b...
My favorite ads on TV right now are ones that feature kids of various ages expressing some level of disgust with their parents. First, there’s the Geico “Scoop, There It Is” commercial. Dan and I have friends — with no adolescent children living at home — who thought watching hip hop group Tag Team dish up ice cream and the play on their hit “Whoop, There It Is” was hilarious. They didn’t even notice the teenage daughter — or her look of disgust as she exits the room after he...
3 for '21. Gretchen Rubin's suggestion seemed pretty simple. "If you don't want to make a New Year's resolution, consider writing your '21 for 2021' list," the author of "The Happiness Project" wrote Dec. 15 in her blog. I liked the sound of it - a list of 21 concrete things to accomplish. (I also appreciated the photo of a typewriter that ran with the post!) She listed really helpful suggestions, too, like using the number 21 within this list (read 21 books, visit 21 diners)...
Imagining what the inauguation would look like in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic was difficult for me. Would Planet Fitness sponsor "pods" for first responders to view the events, as they did at Times Square on New Year's Eve? Would 6-foot circles be chalked on the ground, with invitees bringing their own lawn chairs to sit in them? Would everything be broadcast on Zoom or Google Teams? Having stood - wedged shoulder to shoulder - with other attendees at the first inaug...
The best advice I encountered for 2021 as 2020 came to a close was hilarious. And prophetic. "Nobody claim 2021 as 'your year,' " the Facebook post advised. "We're all going to walk in real slow. Be good. Be quiet. Don't. Touch. Anything." Unfortunately, a whole bunch of people didn't get the memo. We're still recovering from the events that took place at the nation's Capitol Jan. 6, but I for one refuse to believe this country is irreparably broken. Nor do I feel discouraged...
"Schadenfreude" is a term introduced to me by the very erudite musical, "Avenue Q." Its technical definition is taking pleasure ("freude") in another person's pain ("schaden"). Or, as the song lyrics go, "When I see how sad you are, it makes me sort of happy!" I've seen schadenfreude at work, and wrote the better part of a column about it a few years ago. After a bit of a scheduling snafu that caused Ainsley to miss dress rehearsal for her school's variety show, she took...
Nine years ago I began an annual tradition that I have somehow managed to continue. In the issue before Ainsley’s birthday each year, I use this space to write a special letter to her. When I wrote the first, Ainsley was in preschool. She wanted to call Santa and ask for a ride in his sleigh so she could visit Baby Jesus in Heaven. She hadn’t yet learned to read — although she could recite many of her books by heart — and she had just received her first real bicycle for Chr...
“Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes.” — David Bowie One thing you learn as a parent is how much things change each holiday season as your kids (or kid, in my case) get older. One Christmas you’re lending Santa a hand assembling the Barbie Dreamhouse he delivered for your 5-year-old. Before you know it, her Christmas wish list includes a laptop and headphones for gaming and “merch” from her favorite YouTuber, YaBoiAction. For several years you enjoy gathering as a family...
Several years ago I found a reprint of a vintage Betty Crocker cookie cookbook at Yankee Peddler - the very same one my mom had when I was a kid. I later regretted not purchasing it. But then I found my mom's old volume, which is even better. The "Cooky Book," as it's titled, was first published in 1963. My mom was not much of a baker, so we got out the book exactly once a year, at Christmastime. My favorite part of the cookbook then (and now!) is the photos - full-page...
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." - the 14th Dalai Lama Did you ever learn a new word and then start to see it everywhere? Or encounter the same message or theme emanating from a variety of sources? I've experienced both, and - as you might guess - am currently doing so right now. I keep discovering the same message from different people and places. It's simple and straightforward: Be kind. While I was home in quarantine with a sick husband, I counted on...
Last Monday I was supposed to start the week with a 90-minute gratitude walk at Mayslake Forest Preserve. Instead, I was home in quarantine while my COVID-19 positive husband was upstairs in isolation. I know that the best antidote to focusing too much on my troubles is to think about the things for which I am grateful. And so - without the benefit of the gratitude walk - I embarked on a list. Despite all the reasons I had to complain, I found plenty to be grateful for. • B...
"The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning." - Ivy Baker Priest I've used that quote many times since I first read it in a book gifted to me by a friend more than 20 years ago. I find it even more poignant this week as I cope with the loss of my mom. She passed away last Wednesday from cancer, which had spread throughout her body, unchecked by new medication she began taking in January. When we learned of her condition after...
As the color guard marched into the gym to open the Veterans Day assembly at Madison School Monday, the students rose to their feet and one Boy Scout snapped his hand to his fore-head in a salute. He and the other kindergartners through fifth-graders then sat at attention for close to an hour, listening to veterans from many branches of services who served during peace and war discuss their experiences. Of course the students are too young to comprehend the horrors some of the...
