Newsletter-Early-Week

Dear Eric: As kids we went to the cemeteries with our parents and grandparents every year before Memorial Day. There are three cemeteries with family members, and I remember all of us working on each plot every year – planting flowers, digging, weeding then going out for lunch. All this takes preparation then daily/weekly care.

Dear Eric: My sister suffers from alcoholism and drug addiction from way back. I am the exact opposite of her in almost every way – rarely drink, never do drugs. She perceives me to be a “goody-two-shoes,” and I was given a nickname of “miss maturity” by her and other siblings. It was not a positive nickname.

Dear Eric: My daughter Tess turned 40 years old last month. Hard to believe how time flies. My husband and I took her and her husband, Mack, and two children out for dinner on her birthday as we always do every year. A few weeks before this, Mack asked my husband if we would babysit on a day after the birthday dinner. My husband told me that Mack was taking Tess out after dinner. I thought OK, that’s nice that they will go out for her birthday.

I am neither the most affable nor the most sociable person in the county, but people interest me. I find that if I show an inkling of that interest to a near-stranger, or even a complete stranger, an interesting conversation is likely to ensue.