During Women’s History Month, the tendency is to celebrate famous women in the arts and politics, often ignoring those less famous women who have made an indelible impression on our lives. This year I’m celebrating Women’s [...]
Pat Taub
This past weekend I drove to the mall for holiday gifts. Entering TJ Maxx, I was flabbergasted by the towers of holiday merchandise, which spilled over into the narrow aisles, making for tricky navigation. Overwhelmed by this crass commercialism, I made a few purchases and raced to my car. Back at home, over a cup of tea, I revisited past [...]
Pat Taub
If you live alone, if your family is scattered far and wide, if you recently lost a partner or spouse, if you can’t afford the plane fare to visit family or to enjoy a holiday escape, you may be feeling miserable and lonely, making you a prime candidate for the holiday blues. No one wants to feel left out, but don’t fall prey to [...]
Pat Taub
The most loving Christmases in my adult life occurred in unusual circumstances. There was the Christmas I spent in Key West with my two college-aged sons. That year I longed for a holiday where my sons weren’t stressed from being shuttled between my home and their father’s. Knowing my mother’s condo sat empty during the holidays, I [...]
Pat Taub
The holiday season is upon us. Thanksgiving is next week, soon to be followed by Christmas and Hanukkah where images of happy extended families are portrayed in TV commercials and Hallmark specials. But if you’re among all those older women and men who live alone, who don’t have a family to celebrate with, or who recently lost a partner, [...]
Pat Taub
Being A Christmas Orphan The surging Omicron virus had me scuttling my holiday plans to fly to Chicago to spend Christmas with my oldest son and his family. It was a hard decision, but it feels like a case of “Better safe than sorry.” Like many families, who are separated this year due to Covid, we will Zoom or FaceTime on Christmas [...]
Pat Taub
GUEST POST by JANET WEIL Like probably everyone reading this, I have been flooded with catalogs lately. After my father-in-law died, I handled his mail, including many catalogs as he enjoyed this kind of shopping for family gifts, and I started the mail order madness. Now I’m struggling to get off their lists. That made me think about what [...]
Pat Taub
SNOW! My city of Portland, Maine was on track to receive 6” of snow but we got 17!” This morning I took one look at my buried car and went back inside. Once it warms up, I will tackle all the snow covering it. My heart goes out to all the unhoused in this bitter weather. I learned of two unhoused who died this week. It makes my heart [...]
Pat Taub
My Christmas Tree Although I’ll be alone this Christmas, I’m not eliminating holiday décor, although it’s been greatly reduced from former years. As a young wife and mother, I went crazy, stringing garlands all over the house, baking gingerbread cookies for the tree, and even sending out homemade gift baskets to relatives. Decades later, [...]
Pat Taub
GUEST POST By JANET WEIL “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” – popular song by Donald Yetter Gardner, 1944 All I want for this Hanukah/Christmas season is two injections of COVID vaccine. Well, not all – I want the vaccine for my son the paramedic, my 99-year-old father-in-law, my husband about to turn 70, [...]
Pat Taub
Holiday Images Walking around a very cold Portland I captured these holiday images. The first is from a new boutique on upper Congress St. I love the colorful tress of different sizes gracing the window. The other image is of the entrance to a townhouse in the West End. A Holiday Appeal This appeal does not involve money. [...]
Pat Taub