Looking for love at 55, part 1

“Don’t worry,” my mom’s neighbor told her upon hearing I was getting a divorce, “Allison will be married in a year. You’ll see.”

When my mom recounted that exchange to me, I thought—yeah, I might be married in a year, but that seems pretty quick. How can she be so confident? Nonetheless, I hoped I would find love again someday after Peter. It would be a different love. But love wasn’t out of reach. Maybe I didn’t even need wait that long. Continue reading

Covid chronicles: life with my 20-something son

I knew something was up when I saw the meat mallet out on the counter.

“Did you use the meat mallet for something?” I ask my son.

“Oh yeah,” he says, with a smile, running into the other room to get something.

He returns with a smashed brown pulpy mass, about the size of a small lime but looking more like a putrified fig.

“What is this?” he says. Continue reading