Certain writings fill the heart, as yours invariably do, Susan. I read this piece in late morning, and am reading it again this evening. My heart was filled twice. Repetition can be good.🙏
Incidentally, the second time you asked, the young graduate could have further expanded on his cartography degree and area(s) of specialization.
I love that instruction..."repetition can be good." The trick is not to become bored with one's own preoccupations. Sharing them with receptive others such as yourself goes a long way.
Ah Susie, how many of your readers would even notice if you repeated yourself?? Your writing is so alive and true and full of questions that need to be (re)considered. Thank you once again!
There's always a small voice that demands variety, buzz. I know it's not the most meaningful message I need to hear as a writer, but it does swarm around from time to time. I try to keep in mind that the tag line of seventysomething is "memory, aging in amazement and the inner life." If I stick with that, I'm usually ok.
I got stuck at hippie wedding. All I could think of was yours and Frank’s. Now that’s a story I could tell again and again, but maybe I have and don’t remember.
It was Al Silverstein and Laura Dubester who married in their forties. Big party! Love it that you remember our wedding (lobster tails?) so fondly. I remember when you and Gary got married in that little village church. Might have been around the same time??
Susie, I’m sitting here reading Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan and your thought about
repeating one self is so evident in our President's head. As we enter the 80’s many things change, memory fades some, health changes along with our routines. Some we control others not so much. I liked your thought about repeating one’s self and then having volunteers filling in. I haven’t noticed that in reading your work. Continue as you have, we keep enjoying the read!
Daryl.....Are you saying that he's aware of repeating himself? I wonder. I wonder what his experience of aging is really like. Thanks for your encouragement..SK
Susie, I've not been reading your essays for very long but, 1) imho, if you are repeating yourself I'm here for it and 2) my 69 y/o brain is much less agile than your 80(?) y/o one.
I'd venture to say that your musings about the boat of life heading toward the horizon are interesting to most of your readers and it's natural for us to circle around same or similar thoughts that relate to the big unknown. Thanks for your thoughtfulness and your beautiful writing
Appreciate your support, Vicky. Repeating oneself in person is a commonplace of aging, but not everyone has a regular presence in print. It makes me wonder if there's something else I might want to think about, talk about, write about. But apparently not!
Beautiful! You describe the slow slide of aging so well
Thank you for reaching out. One never knows on this side of the screen...so hearing from readers means a great deal.
Loved the image of the pickup sticks.
Thank you. I like it because it conveys the fragility of everything and the interdependence. One false move and the whole thing comes tumbling down.
I am so with you. Have said that before?
Humor goes a long way and you have always been a master.
Certain writings fill the heart, as yours invariably do, Susan. I read this piece in late morning, and am reading it again this evening. My heart was filled twice. Repetition can be good.🙏
Incidentally, the second time you asked, the young graduate could have further expanded on his cartography degree and area(s) of specialization.
I love that instruction..."repetition can be good." The trick is not to become bored with one's own preoccupations. Sharing them with receptive others such as yourself goes a long way.
Ah Susie, how many of your readers would even notice if you repeated yourself?? Your writing is so alive and true and full of questions that need to be (re)considered. Thank you once again!
There's always a small voice that demands variety, buzz. I know it's not the most meaningful message I need to hear as a writer, but it does swarm around from time to time. I try to keep in mind that the tag line of seventysomething is "memory, aging in amazement and the inner life." If I stick with that, I'm usually ok.
Are you living in my head? 🤣Thanks for the experience of feeling known.
It's a blessing to meet you in there.
I got stuck at hippie wedding. All I could think of was yours and Frank’s. Now that’s a story I could tell again and again, but maybe I have and don’t remember.
It was Al Silverstein and Laura Dubester who married in their forties. Big party! Love it that you remember our wedding (lobster tails?) so fondly. I remember when you and Gary got married in that little village church. Might have been around the same time??
So apt and poignant
Many thanks
Susie, I’m sitting here reading Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan and your thought about
repeating one self is so evident in our President's head. As we enter the 80’s many things change, memory fades some, health changes along with our routines. Some we control others not so much. I liked your thought about repeating one’s self and then having volunteers filling in. I haven’t noticed that in reading your work. Continue as you have, we keep enjoying the read!
Daryl.....Are you saying that he's aware of repeating himself? I wonder. I wonder what his experience of aging is really like. Thanks for your encouragement..SK
In my poem Refugees, I used a similar image. “We were severed limbs of a tree/ Pick-up sticks to pyromaniacs….”
Can you send me the poem? Thanks.
Susie, you have captured this time in our lives so aptly, so humorously, so truthfully. From one of your pickup sticks :-)
So good to hear from you. I don't think I had any idea when I was younger how powerful the concept of an age cohort could be.
Susie, I've not been reading your essays for very long but, 1) imho, if you are repeating yourself I'm here for it and 2) my 69 y/o brain is much less agile than your 80(?) y/o one.
I'd venture to say that your musings about the boat of life heading toward the horizon are interesting to most of your readers and it's natural for us to circle around same or similar thoughts that relate to the big unknown. Thanks for your thoughtfulness and your beautiful writing
Appreciate your support, Vicky. Repeating oneself in person is a commonplace of aging, but not everyone has a regular presence in print. It makes me wonder if there's something else I might want to think about, talk about, write about. But apparently not!