As I support people who are sick and aging, I turn to Jane Eyre as a model of one who considers such activity to be, not a self-sacrifice, but a gift to herself.
Tag Archives: Aging
Jane Eyre on Caring for the Sick
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged caregivers, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, sacrifice Comments closed
Federer, Unlike Ulysses, a Family Man Hero
Time and again with Roger Federer, thinking he is nearing his end, I have cited Tennyson’s “Ulysses.” He keeps proving me wrong. One reason may be because he has a different relationship with his family than Tennyson’s protagonist has.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, Roger Federer, tennis, Ulysses, Venus Williams Comments closed
Kranz & Muriel Spark on Insulting the Aged
Today I share a poker post from my 61-year-old novelist and poker playing friend Rachel Kranz, about the indignities of being called “young lady” while at the poker table. Muriel Spark similarly objects to the indignities heaped upon those who are aging in her novel “Memento Mori.”
How to Keep Beauty from Vanishing Away
Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo” works as a Lenten meditation on the beauty of God’s grace.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Spirituality Comments closed
The Violins of Autumn
I still remember memorizing, as a child in a French school, Paul Verlaine’s deliciously sad “Chanson d’automne.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Chanson d'automne", Autumn, Depression, Fall, Paul Verlaine, Seasons Comments closed
Wonder in an Old Leather Mitt
Emilio DeGrazia’s poems about an old leather mitt is a wonderful meditation on aging.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Pasttime", Baseball, baseball gloves, Emilio DeGrazia, Sports Comments closed
The Night Father Fell Out of Bed
I take a page from James Thurber and the author of Madeleine as I describe “The Night My Father Fell Out of Bed.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Matilda", Hilaire Belloc, James Thurber, Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeleine, Night the Bed Fell on Father Comments closed
What Rises So Far Above into the Light?
Denise Levertov’s poem about moving amongst tall trees becomes a meditation on life and afterlife.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "From Below", Childhood, Denise Levertov, mortality Comments closed
