Saturday afternoon, I was out walking Scamp around the neighborhood when I heard this little girl shriek with delight. I turned my head, like you do, and that’s when I saw it: a young Dad, holding his daughter over his head, helping her fly. And just like that, I was her, that little girl, looking down at my strong Dad, laughing eyes filled with love. Then, in a blink of an eye, I remembered back to that morning, me sitting with my dad, now a confused old man with sad eyes. I’m holding his hand, and he’s saying, “I don’t know. I just don’t know what’s going on.” And I’m thinking, Neither do I Dad. …

The other night, Charlie and me were in the den. He was  watching the tube and I was reading the AARP Magazine when I think, when did this happen? When did I go from joking about this magazine to actually reading it? Not flipping through it, not scanning it, but actually reading it? I mean, finding the articles interesting and helpful. The celebrities on the cover used to be old looking, you know? Now I find myself saying things like, “Gee, that Michael Douglas still is a good looking guy.” In fact, this issue I got more excited about the article called “Your Big Health Questions Answered” than the one about budget vacations. That worries …

Have you ever been driving around, pass a house and think, I wonder if they’re having a yard sale, or if that’s just how they live? Or someone walks by you at the mall and you’re like, Geez, Louise, are they wearing perfume or is that bug dope? There are entire days where I just wondering around in my head. I wonder what I’ll make for supper? I wonder if I have time to clean to bathroom before I leave for work? I look at Scamp, and he’s staring off into space and I wonder what he’s thinking. I wonder if that’s a look of concentration on his furry, little face, or is it just …

Folks, I’m feeling a little out of sorts this morning. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking: Hurricane Ida, right? Like I haven’t heard jokes like that all week. You just wait until you have a hurricane named after you! The last time this happened to me was in 2009, and it seems too soon for it to happen again. Speaking of too soon, and the reason I’m a little down right now, one of the saddest days of summer happened last Monday. You know what I’m talking about: the arrival of our hardy mums down to the A&P. (Sigh.) Sure, they have tight little buds at the moment, but that means we’re only a …