Paper and clocks
The traditional gift for a first anniversary is paper. That's for married couples, of course; not for deaths of loved ones. And yet it...
The big five-oh
It occurred to me, not long after Dad died, that Mom shouldn't be alone on what would have been their 50th anniversary: February 4, 2017....
Dream Dad
Before Dad was a cyclist, he was a runner. On cold days he would don a navy blue half-zip shirt that pilled badly, a pair of baggy black...
Epic beginnings and last requests
Eric J. Wedell married Maida McIlroy on February 4, 1967. If you do the math, you'll realize their 50th anniversary is coming up. He...
House call
Dear Dad, Your granddaughter just threw up for the eighth time tonight (I think; I've actually lost count). At some point this evening,...
Going with the flow
There are things related to my dad that I think I'll never stop doing. Taking photos of sunrises over the Mississippi River on my morning...
Just a moment
My mom sent me this photo today. She received it from her friend Shel, who, with his wife, was a travel companion of Mom and Dad's. They...
Tinglefingers
There's this thing that happens to me when I get startled, scared, or shocked. I've never told anyone this (lucky you!), but in my head,...
Notes from beneath the ton
"Watch out for the holidays," they said. "They can be really hard," they said. So I battened down the proverbial hatches. I hunkered down...
A Thanksgiving request
As you can imagine, my dad figures prominently in my memories of Thanksgiving. There are three things he did at every Thanksgiving dinner...
