If you’re casting about for a way to take the edge off Trump’s wrecking ball, I heartily recommend the uplifting powers of a great...
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Grandmother Wisdom for Granddaughters
GUEST POST BY TONI KIEF For this post Toni collected grandmother wisdom from friends that are grandmothers. They are among the pairs photographed below. Dearest Granddaughters, Because of you, we joined the community of Grandmothers. We would like to assure you that it’s all worthwhile. Watching you careen into adulthood pressing forward, [...]
Pat Taub
My Father: The Good-Hearted Tyrant
Like most women I’ve spent endless hours analyzing my relationship with my mother, while giving only a passing nod to my relationship with father. With Father’s Day approaching it seems fitting to reflect on my father’s influence. I grew up in the 1950’s when gender roles were strictly defined. My mother, like most women of the era, [...]
Pat Taub
Street Theater, William Trevor, Remembering Kate Spade & More!
Street Theater Last Friday I participated in the silent tableau, “Gaza Bleeds” staged in downtown Portland. I joined with Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights to protest Israel’s shooting of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza who have been protesting for over two months calling on Israel to end their illegal blockade of Gaza. My task was [...]
Pat Taub
Dark Times, A Granddaughter Graduates, RBG documentary & More!
Trying to Manage Dark Times Periodically the dark times we’re experiencing get to me. I sink into despair. I have discovered that the most effective way to climb out of my political despair is to join others in protest actions. Today, I’ll be standing with a Portland noon contingent in front of the US Attorney’s office to protest [...]
Pat Taub
Crafting Healing Stories to Shed Anger
One of the most valuable lessons aging has bestowed on me is the importance of shedding anger. The less anger I hold the more inner peace I possess. I’ve learned to release a lot of my anger by imagining myself inhabiting the lives of those who have hurt me, resulting in a new story where I experience compassion towards the other. This [...]
Pat Taub
Gaza, Granddaughter Jane, Signs of Spring & More!
Poor Gaza! The past few weeks have seen 111 unarmed Gazan protestors shot by Israeli forces as they gathered at the Israeli border to mark Nakba, the day 70 years ago when Israel forced Gazans to leave their homeland. Ever since they have been living under tight Israeli military rule in what many call the “world’s largest open-air prison.” [...]
Pat Taub
Healing the Mother Wound
Mother’s Day can be an unsettling occasion for those adult daughters with a pronounced mother wound. A celebration of mothers can reawaken a daughter’s memories of the maternal hurt she experienced growing up and which continues to affect her primary relationships. The mother wound can be traced to a woman’s proclivity to rejection, [...]
Pat Taub
August in May, A Sudden Death, Appearing in the Boston Globe & More!
August in May Wow! Wednesday set a record for Portland, Maine with temps climbing close to 90! It was crazy in that the previous day I was wearing a spring coat and a day later I’m in a T-shirt and thin slacks. Does this portend an unusually hot summer? It certainly speaks to the erratic temps brought on by global warming. [...]
Pat Taub
Growing Old Without a Partner
I’m all for love and romance but when our love options run out as we age, when dating is more frustrating than satisfying, wouldn’t we be happier if we accepted that love is no longer in the cards, seeking companionship among friends and family? I mentioned this to a friend who looked aghast as if I were delivering a death sentence! [...]
Pat Taub
Learning to Be Old
What if the US had an official agency called “Learning to be Old”? Here’s how I imagine it: older women and men are scheduled for aging interviews where their aging progress is assessed followed by recommendations for a meaningful old age. When I show up for my interview I’m escorted to the women’s section and led [...]
Pat Taub