Essays
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Helping Your Aging Parents: “Moving Mom”
“There are only four kind of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.” ~Rosalyn Carter The decision to move an elderly parent to a nursing home or an assisted living residence is never easy. I wrote about the experience with my own mother for Metro Parent magazine’s Guide to Helping Your Aging Parents. You can read it here. Photo above: My mother dressed for her senior prom in the 1940s.
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Where everybody knew your name
“The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction. A person cooking is a person giving: Even the simplest food is a gift.” ~Laurie Colwin Another version of this column appeared in The Daily Tribune, March 20, 2019 When a family diner closes, you might feel as if you’ve lost an old friend. Here in Royal Oak, Niki’s was a favorite neighborhood hangout — our own private Cheers without the booze — for about 30 years. When my son was a small boy, it was also my home-away-from-home. In those days, I was writing freelance for several local papers, so I’d often head to…
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The “black holes” in our social universe
“Whether we give away too much or too little of ourselves, our vitality dwindles.” ~Sue Patton Thoele Black Hole Relationships (Parts of this essay were adapted from Writing Home) A full-time mother of three once told me she looked forward all year to summer break and hated to see it end. Was she nuts? Did she really enjoy refereeing troops of rowdy kids in her basement and making dozens of grape jelly sandwiches on short order? “I love summer because I get a reprieve from the back-stabbing at school events and Mothers’ League meetings,” the young mom insisted. “I don’t have to deal with the woman who doesn’t like…
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Our home in a holiday commercial
“From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.” ~Katherine Whitehorn Setting up the living room / Cindy La Ferle Last week, our home was transformed by Detroit’s TMV Group into a festive set for a Faygo Redpop commercial. Two days prior to the shoot, a film crew rearranged the furniture in our living and dining rooms to accommodate lights and production equipment. Meanwhile, a Christmas tree with twinkle lights was assembled in our living room, then trimmed with ornaments. The staircase was festooned with bows and garlands; the fireplace mantle decked with holiday greens and Christmas stockings. (Doug and I…
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Visiting the past
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” ~Norman Cousins Gravestones at Royal Oak Township Cemetery / Cindy La Ferle _________ Please visit the home page for additional content and social media sharing options. Parts of this blog do not show on digital devices. Cindy La Ferle Visiting your town’s oldest burial ground is a thought-provoking way to get into the spirit of the Halloween season. It’s not nearly as macabre as it seems, and you’ll be rewarded with several local history lessons. Cindy La Ferle The historic Royal Oak Township Cemetery is just a short drive from our home. The…
