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My tenure as a contributing columnist officially ends today with my 31st column for the Hinsdalean. Adding five written earlier for The Doings brings the total to 36 over 10 years. I've loved the challenge despite sometimes struggling to think up topics and always spending a long time doing the actual writing. Throughout, I've followed a path of writing about what I knew best. That's why my columns have been filled with personal anecdotes from all stages of my life. Today I'd...
I'm doing final edits to this column on April 28. Perhaps things have changed by the time you're reading it, but I hope not. So far, our family has weathered the pandemic by being very careful, especially those of us who are 75 - but we also worry and grieve for families who have suffered terribly. With time for idle thoughts, I realized that, after the kids moved out 30 years ago, my husband and I have experienced three distinct phases of "togetherness," defined as "time...
My husband and I have been huge fans of the "Great Courses" DVDs for years. Each of the hundreds of courses available typically includes 24 or 36 half-hour lessons taught by student-recommended professors. Our personal curriculum reveals a deep interest in science, linguistics and history, and our routine is to begin evening TV time by watching a class on the topic at hand. I've been very satisfied with most courses but was 95 percent dazed and confused with our latest,...
As a former very frequent flier, I’ve followed the news about Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane crisis and the appointment of a new CEO to drive major change. While this news hasn’t lessened my confidence in airline safety, it did prompt thoughts of my most memorable flights. My first plane ride was in 1955 at age 10. When our Memphis relatives visited us in Richmond, Ind., they invited me to drive home with them for a 12-day stay. My exciting return plan was to fly alone back to In...
More than 10,000 years ago, people began migrating from Eurasia to North America. Because sea levels were low, they could walk across a small landmass where the Bering Straits are today. Over millennia, their descendants spread throughout the Americas. Much later, after Columbus, the first Europeans resettled in what is now the United States. In time, people who left foreign countries as voluntary migrants or refugees to seek a permanent home here or elsewhere became known as...
Our family moved to Hinsdale in 1976, buying a more spacious house on a wooded lot with an easy walk to the train. An especially appreciated feature was our much-needed, first-ever basement. We quickly took it for granted, never suspecting that, on three occasions, basements would rivet our attention in coming years. By 1999, we were building a new house on Third Street, an all-consuming, creative project. However, as work proceeded, I started stressing about our upcoming...
The classic film "Gaslight" (1944), starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman, has been a favorite of mine for years. (Spoiler alert: Set in Victorian London, the dashing, dastardly Boyer manipulates his wife, Bergman, into believing she's going mad. Meanwhile, he surreptitiously searches for her jewels.) I first watched this movie on TV while home sick from school. The plot was irresistible, as was the Beethoven sonata prominently featured in the soundtrack - a piece I was...
