Descended from a king, traveling with a prince

One of the highlights of last month’s visit to Ireland was a Sunday afternoon gathering of family in Dublin. If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know the story of my making contact with my father’s family for the first time in 1989 when I was 22 years old. If you … Continue reading Descended from a king, traveling with a prince

Getting Hot

One of my favorite hotel stays was many years ago in Amsterdam - and no, I’m not talking about that sweet botel docked behind Centraal Station again. This was a much later visit, with my then-teenaged oldest son and my German uncle and aunt. It was also situated behind Centraal Station but was decidedly much … Continue reading Getting Hot

Like a bird up in the sky

I never could have imagined that I would one day return to the hospitality industry after a 30 year career as a school librarian. I mean, hadn’t I become a teacher to leave the restaurant life behind me for a place that promised an eventual pension, good quality healthcare and holidays and summers available to … Continue reading Like a bird up in the sky

QPL XXI

Yesterday was my youngest son’s 21st birthday, a milestone that came with no small sense of satisfaction. Parenting this kid, the family baby, had not been without its challenges. There had been numerous early miscarriages, (something I’ll forever attribute to the aggressively high radioactive iodine dose I received and my managed state of hyperthyroidism), before … Continue reading QPL XXI

What day is it?

“I’m retired,” doesn’t exactly roll off of my tongue yet. Especially not when I’m still waiting for just one person to respond with, “you can’t possibly be old enough to retire!” In the midst of my second week of this new life chapter, I’ve got some observations - and some questions. Week One was a … Continue reading What day is it?