Adult friendships are hard. Yet in this time of the pandemic, they are more important than ever. Everyone I know is experiencing some form of loneliness, anxiety, unease.
You’d have to be living in a cave not to feel the uncertainty and sadness accompanying this period when there are more than 160,000 dead from the disease. We are in and out of quarantine, our daily routines are upended, there is economic hardship all around and we’re watching our children suffer from disturbed schooling and socialization. Even Michelle Obama, who I admire greatly for her humor, strength and determination, admitted this week that she’s suffering from low-level depression.
This is not a political column, at least not a partisan one. We don’t need anyone else yelling their opinions into our ears. Besides, I promised the folks in charge of this newspaper that I would stay away from politics.
But there is one thing that I cannot remain silent about: voting in the upcoming Nov. 6 election.
As Frank Bruni said in the New York Times on July 22, “We’re excellent at venting. We need to be just as good at voting.”
There are many reasons to write about and admire Rev. Chris Brown, the pastor at Bethania Lutheran Church in Solvang.
When initially introduced to him at a meeting in the Santa Ynez Valley, the first thing I noticed about him were his tattoos. He had several, though I was not sitting close enough nor felt comfortable enough to stare and try to identify what they were.
I have a real relationship with tattoos because of my youngest son David. And seeing a clergyman sporting a few only solidified my resolve not to judge tattoo-wearers.
Part of what makes the Santa Ynez community so interesting are the people living their second act. These are individuals who bravely make changes in the trajectory of their life.
I feel drawn to those brave people who have left a situation, often not of their own choosing, and created a new chapter for themselves. There are probably as many reasons for making change as there are individuals with second act stories.
I present to you two stories from two very different men, Don Fiore and Bob Oswaks, who took a different path and changed their lives.
The enormous challenge of facing the future without your beloved partner at your side, looms more powerfully during certain holidays. Father’s Day, which just passed on the calendar, is one such painful day for some widows.
When I was 47, I lost my dearly loved husband who was the father of our two young children. We had five months together after my husband’s cancer diagnosis, and they are among the most meaningful months of my life. I had a husband who bravely said his peace to the people he both loved and worked with. He left words for the rest of us to live by and consider, even though the uttering of these words took phenomenal courage to both say and to hear.
