Category Archives: Health Issues

Coppertone

Posted on July 3, 2016 by vanbytheriver

This is the image. It was everywhere in the 1960’s, in the time before sunscreen. The Coppertone baby. I grew up in a family that tanned easily. Except for me. I freckled, burned and peeled. Every year of my childhood. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beauty, Childhood, Family, Health Issues | Tagged , , , , | 84 Comments

Perennials

Posted on June 9, 2016 by vanbytheriver

They are the flowers that come back year after year, the ones that always bloom. The rose might be the most faithful floral of all. We have been best friends for over 30 years. We met through work, followed our … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Gardening, Health Issues, Relationships, Work and Career | Tagged , , , , , | 72 Comments

Sedentary

Posted on April 28, 2016 by vanbytheriver

We read. We write. We sit. According to recent reports, sitting 5 hours a day is the equivalent of smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes. Ouch. I have felt the effects, and make an effort to get up … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Exercise, Health Issues, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 71 Comments

Music and Lyrics

Posted on April 13, 2016 by vanbytheriver

He wrote song lyrics, poems of various length, all about pain. He left them out on his dresser one day, and I spotted them. It is how I found out that my son had been bullied. He suffered in silence through the middle … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Family, Health Issues, Music | Tagged , , , , , | 80 Comments

The Accident

Posted on March 4, 2016 by vanbytheriver

Sometimes the Universe gives you a subtle nudge. And sometimes, it knocks you down to get your attention. In a very chance meeting at a flea market, I struck up a conversation with a young man selling his record collection. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Health Issues, Work and Career | Tagged , , , , , , | 101 Comments

Low Definition

Posted on March 3, 2016 by vanbytheriver

When we reach an age that I like to call the “Age of Enlightenment”, we might find it comes with eyestrain, and reading glasses. There are glasses with small magnifications (1.25x to 1.50x) stored in just about every room in … Continue reading →

Posted in Beauty, Family, Health Issues, Humor, Random Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | 75 Comments

Death by Coupon

Posted on February 29, 2016 by vanbytheriver

Originally posted on vanbytheriver:
It will be somewhere in my obituary.  “She died trying to redeem a coupon”. The body ages; the mind refuses to recognize its limitations. It happens to me all the time. I never learn. The latest…

Posted in Exercise, Health Issues, Humor, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Press “Pause”

Posted on November 6, 2015 by vanbytheriver

At the risk of becoming one of those MIA bloggers that I wrote about on a recent post, I feel the need to take a break. Life can get in the way of creativity. I will blame some of it on … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Health Issues, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 71 Comments

Biopsy

Posted on November 3, 2015 by vanbytheriver

It happened to me, exactly 3 years ago this week. After a series of tests, the radiologist said those few words that would change my life for the next 18 months. “You need a biopsy.” I wrote about it before, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Family, Health Issues | Tagged , , , , | 44 Comments

Making the Coffee

Posted on October 25, 2015 by vanbytheriver

It’s a simple ritual. Fill pot with water. Insert paper filter. Measure coffee grounds. It doesn’t take a team of two. Yet, somehow, it does. Since my husband retired, we have been setting up the coffee pot for the next … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Food, Health Issues | Tagged , , , , , | 73 Comments