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Return to sender Return to sender  I gave a letter to the postman, He put it his sack. Bright in early next morning, He brought my letter back.  She wrote upon it: Return to sender, address unknown. No such number, no such zone.  We had a quarrel, a lovers’ spat I write I’m sorry but my letter keeps coming back.  So then I dropped it in the mailbox And sent it special D. Bright in early next morning It came right back to me.  She wrote upon it: Return to sender, address unknown. No such person, no such zone.  This time I’m gonna take it myself And put it right in her hand. And...

With all the talk about Marie Kondo’s runaway bestseller, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” (Ten Speed Press, 2014), we’ve both spent more time reassessing the real value of our own cluttered lives. As we age, do we really need more clothing, furniture, books, collections, t’chokes? Answer: Simply put–no. That’s why now we’re on a kick to free ourselves of stuff and spend our time with people we care about, our money on what matters and to do the things we love. Minimalism really feels right, even perfect. We actually consider ourselves a bit...

Can dirty dishes or an overcooked brisket burn a relationship? Yes, unless you douse the fire quickly. Case in point. “Why didn’t you rinse off my dish in the sink when you did yours this morning?” Margaret snaps at her husband. “And while you’re at it, please clean up your crumbs.” Nag. Nag. Nag. No response. He leaves the room. What was she thinking? Now that her husband has passed away, she wishes she could take it all back…the petty comments and arguments over the years about such innocuous stuff as dishes and crumbs. These trivial fights often undermined their...

When you’re past 50, and certainly 60 plus, some of us start feeling old…really old. At least we’re still here, which beats the alternative when you consider how many friends and relatives of our vintage we’ve lost to death. I knew I was heading north in the numbers chronologically, when I saw recently the movie, The Intern, and found 72-year-old Robert De Niro actually cute and sexy rather than old. OK, OK, he may not be Tom Cruise, Chris Marten, Ed Sheeran of the younger set, but he has a dazzling smile, nice head of gray hair, great wardrobe in the movie,...

Throughout our lives, we each have encountered new beginnings when we went off to college, made new friends, started jobs–sometimes with difficult colleagues and editors, moved into homes or apartments in new neighborhoods, and certainly after we married and had someone else in our lives for forever—or so we thought. We had big plans. Our lives would move along a smooth trajectory. But WHAMMO! The door slammed hard in our faces. One of us lost a spouse to death after a five-year-battle with cancer; the other became single after a divorce filled with all the contention that could fuel a...