Sixty-Five September 22nd, 2013 @ 5:13 am PDT
Today would have been mom’s 65th birthday. My little sister took this photo of me hugging her just before Mother’s Day last year. I miss her so much that it hurts, a phrase that people use frequently but not literally. But I very literally feel an ache in my heart. The last time I saw […]
#FridayFive: Memories August 16th, 2013 @ 7:49 am PDT
Read the Friday Five …Kathleen A. Gagne August 12th, 2013 @ 8:10 am PDT
My mom died one year ago today. It simultaneously feels like it was only yesterday and like it was a thousand years ago. I miss her so much that there is an actual ache in my heart. She died much too young. It was undeserved and unfair and unjust and I still rage inside that […]
Eight April 7th, 2013 @ 6:27 am PDT
Today makes it eight months since my mom died. She died on August 12th. I was sitting in the car in the parking lot of Centinela Feed on Pico, waiting with my son for my wife to get some cat food, when my phone rang. A nurse at Woodland Terrace named Ida Alvis — a […]
Six Months February 12th, 2013 @ 6:00 am PST
Today marks the six month anniversary of my mother’s death. She died on Sunday, August 12, 2012. Not every month is the same length, though, of course. And should I consider “a month” to be “every four Sundays” or simply “the next 12th on the calendar”? It’s the sort of question she would call to […]
Eve December 24th, 2012 @ 8:15 am PST
On family traditions
The Dogs of War November 11th, 2012 @ 2:53 pm PST
Happy Veterans’ Day! Celebrate by watching this compilation of videos of dogs welcoming their masters home from the field. And a special hat tip to my maternal grandfather Vincent Albanese (1918 – 1986), who fought in WWII as one of Merrill’s Marauders, and to my paternal grandfather Walter Gagne (?? – 2010), who fought in […]
Are You OK? October 30th, 2012 @ 7:25 pm PDT
Mom Just Called To Make Sure You're Not Under That Dangling Crane http://t.co/R6ctjwx9 #Sandy — The Onion (@TheOnion) October 30, 2012 Leave it to The Onion. I’m sure everyone can relate to this in some way, but my mom was particularly neurotic about this sort of thing. (She died just a few weeks ago, in […]
Hate September 14th, 2012 @ 1:43 pm PDT
I have a friend who always snaps at anyone who dramatically uses the word “hate”. If someone says, “I hate the layout of this website,” or, “I hate getting stuck at this traffic light,” he will respond, “No. You don’t.” “You don’t hate this layout. You hate cancer. You hate communism.” He’s right, of course. […]
Death and All of His Friends August 17th, 2012 @ 7:28 pm PDT
Death sucks.
