Kathy Gibbons: Northern Living
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Kathy Gibbons: Kids' turn to be proud
An enduring memory of my childhood is the arrival, like clockwork, of big manila envelopes in the mail. They were addressed to my mother. Over time, I realized that the handwriting was hers.
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Kathy Gibbons: Kind words make bad day good
When you strive to do your best, and come up short, it can shake your confidence. I always try to learn from it, but guess I thought I should have learned all the lessons there are to learn by now. Not so, apparently.
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Kathy Gibbons: Filling void with hope
Adell Maksimowicz was having a rough time. Her husband, Stan, had just passed away. After 37 years of marriage, he was still the love of her life.
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Kathy Gibbons: This side of prom
There is another side of prom that many parents know. Battles over curfews or whether to come home at all. Warnings about drinking. Staying up all night, worrying.
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Kathy Gibbons: Moms carry on
There were three of us, side by side, at the wedding shower. The bride-to-be is the daughter of one of my closest friends. She died six years ago of cancer. But as we all know, life goes on.
Continued ... - Sunday, April 25, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Directional pull?
It started last fall, about when I took a job in Kalamazoo and began traveling back north most weekends. I was becoming increasingly convinced that the appearance of the CHECK ENGINE light was directly related to driving in a northerly direction.
Continued ... - Saturday, April 10, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Simple is in eye of beholder
I look at her. She holds up a dime, like she's a housewife demonstrating a nifty new toilet brush in a 1950s TV commercial, and says with a knowing smile, "This is just simpler. If I tell people $1.90, they rummage for the change."
Continued ... - Saturday, March 27, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Middle-aged metabolism
Since I was a teenager, weight has always been an issue -- sometimes for real, other times in my mind, but as with many women, always there. Then I had the glorious experience last year of not having to worry about it. I started a restaurant, and with the combination of being on my feet 24/7 plus basically running a little maze all day, I lost the pounds that make the difference between thin and slightly chunky.
Continued ... - Saturday, March 13, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Distance, not rage
It's the kind of conversation you have with people you know pretty well. "Yeah, this guy was riding my back bumper. The speed limit was 55, I was going 60 and he actually passed me on the shoulder," said one of the women in the group. "So I laid on my horn and sped up and followed him as closely as I could for a couple of miles."
Continued ... - Saturday, February 27, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Weaning going the wrong way
I think I am being weaned. I'm the mother, 54. She's the daughter, 22. Shouldn't I be the one doing the weaning, and not the other way around?
Continued ... - Saturday, February 13, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: If we could turn back time
There's a death notice in the paper. I recognize the last name, and start to worry. Then I see his age. 28. That would be about right. I worry more. Searching online, I find the full obituary. Sure enough, it's as I had feared.
Continued ... - Saturday, January 30, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Know-it-all lost a customer
When we arrived, the restaurant was busy. We were looking forward to having the dish we'd come for and willing to wait. After we were given menus and seated, I noticed the item was no longer listed. When our waitress came back, I asked if they had stopped making it.
Continued ... - Saturday, January 16, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: Home is where family is
A few months ago, my siblings and parents booked rooms at the same hotel when my nephew got married. We made sure one was a suite so we'd have space to gather. While it was a reputable national chain, the hotel was seedy.
Continued ... - Saturday, January 2, 2010
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Kathy Gibbons: New year reflections
There is a clean slate type of thing that happens with a new year. We may make resolutions, reaffirm goals or simply stop and reflect, kind of a spring cleaning for the brain -- or maybe, the soul. For me, it's also an opportunity to focus on what I have, not on what I don't.
Continued ... - Monday, December 21, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Peace, the greatest gift
In this season of peace and joy, a lot of people are likely struggling to find those feelings in themselves right now. I've heard from readers coping with unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy who say that on the other side of all of this, they wish only for simplicity.
Continued ... - Saturday, December 5, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Some things are kept
I'm in deep decluttering mode. While there are still things I love and hold dear and would buy more of if I could "dishes, clothes " more and more I find myself looking around and feeling overwhelmed by "stuff."
Continued ... - Sunday, November 22, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Middle age has changed
Watching the generations before us get to middle age -- kids grown, finally having freedom and money to travel, buying a cottage or RV in anticipation of retirement -- set the tone for what many of us pictured for ourselves. But that is not the case for baby boomers.
Continued ... - Sunday, November 8, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: You think it won't be you
The phone rings. You recognize the voice as your nephew's. He's calling from Canada, where he says he's been on a fishing trip with some buddies. They've unwittingly caught fish on tribal land and have been arrested by authorities there. Then wants to know if you can help by wiring him money.
Continued ... - Sunday, October 25, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Things could be worse
Age 22, he was waiting at the door of the Father Fred Foundation in Traverse City early one morning recently when the staff arrived. It was cold and damp out, and he said he'd been walking all night -- all the way from Northport -- because he got word the previous evening that his mom had fallen seriously ill and was in the hospital in Charlevoix. With no money or car, he walked through the night, to the foundation, hoping to get help with a bus ticket.
Continued ... - Saturday, October 10, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Roadside determination
When I first saw him, it was early evening. I was on my way home and in the distance, could see the outline of a tall man walking on the rocky shoulder of what is a busy road. Slowly, steadily, he moved. He was wearing shorts, and as I got closer, I realized that his limbs below the knees were too skinny. Steel prosthetics, both legs.
Continued ... - Saturday, September 26, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Wishing doesn't make it so
During the past few months, I had the opportunity to work in a private nonprofit organization. It is often a stop of last resort for people who need help with utility shutoffs, paying for medications, getting food and myriad other needs. With little or no income, it's impossible for them to cover the basic expenses of everyday living.
Continued ... - Saturday, September 12, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Starting over
Recent months since have been all about rebuilding and figuring out what the next step should be, couched in no small amount of self-doubt, confusion about the best choices to make going forward, and plain old worry. Then I saw some new words of wisdom on a business sign that I drive by regularly and that over the years, at times, seemed to speak directly to me. This latest message read, "It's never too late to start over."
Continued ... - Saturday, August 29, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Spreading fairy dust
There are times that you do things for other people, just because you want to. Receiving anything in return is the last thing on your mind. Something happened recently, though, to make me think that while these things may happen separately, they can be inextricably linked.
Continued ... - Saturday, August 15, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Birth to bride in a blink
You know your kids are probably going to get married. When they find someone you are certain in your heart is a perfect match, you know it all the more " and that was the case here. With her at his side, he grew up and into a man who knew where he was going and what he wanted.
Continued ... - Saturday, August 1, 2009
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Kathy Gibbons: Cheesed at the checkout
At the checkout, the cashier rings it up, then says, "Oh, but I have to give you a discount," and deducts 13 cents. Huh? What discount?
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