
Calamities & Confessions
I was mesmerized. Narrow gauge train tracks rolled out beneath my feet as I stood on the observation platform at the end of the train. Mile after mile, sometimes curving around a mountain, sometimes straight across a meadow. A picture of life, I thought. Sometimes we think we know what’s ahead—education, marriage, career, children. But there are times we can’t imagine what lies ahead—or we don’t want to. Clues—a cancer diagnosis, a spouse’s suspected unfaithfulness, an employ

Perspective is Everything
My kitty, a beautiful, long-haired gray tiger, had been losing weight. She no longer would eat or drink much. What was wrong? A trip to the vet gave me news I didn’t want. A kidney disease. But I could prolong her life with fluid insertion under her skin. It was an unpleasant procedure for both of us. IV bag hung up and supplies assembled in the bathroom, I placed Pudge on the towel-covered counter. With my husband’s help, I held her still with my left arm and with my right h