As a child growing up in Montana, I imagined my cowboy grandpa’s life to be as inspiring and majestic as the mountains around me. I was wrong. Continue reading
Category Archives: Family
Stealing in Seattle
I was raised to work hard – physically in caring for what I own – and mentally, in the work I do every day. When others ruin or take away what you love – it is stealing in Seattle. Continue reading
Aging / Connecting / Family / Relationships
Christmas in Wisconsin
It’s sad that so many of us in the U.S. – and especially in Seattle – live so far away from our families, our parents, our loved ones. That’s why spending time with my widowed mom means so much to me, here for Christmas in Wisconsin. Continue reading
Cancer Lottery
I’ve been saved.
I’ve been saved from a genetic DNA mismatch, the tumor suppressor MSH2 malfunction that wreaks havoc on health, on life, on longevity. It’s not just one cancer to deal with; it’s dozens. Continue reading
Goodbye, dear feline friends
Sometimes we know the end is near, and we prepare. That did not happen in my marriage. And it did not happen with my beloved feline companions of 16 years, Honey and Pepper. They were my faithful animal-shelter friends who filled the void of a marriage lost, teaching me love, devotion, and the power of relationships until death parted us today. Continue reading
TV families, and mine
People are wondering about TV news “families” in light of the horrific WDJB-TV murders, broadcast live. I’ve worked in several fantastic places, but nothing compares to my first job as a TV news reporter and producer at Seattle’s CBS affiliate, my “workplace family.” Continue reading
The enduring beauty of Wisconsin
Born and raised in Montana, Wisconsin became my home in my teen and college years – a place of enduring beauty and seasons. Continue reading
Thankful
Looking back, after an earthquake upheaval leaves nothing in my life at right angles. Yet, I am thankful. Continue reading
Christmas Eve, now
Tonight… lighting Christmas Eve candles and singing “Silent Night” one day early, in these parts… Continue reading
Wisconsin, and Thanksgiving
Wisconsin Thanksgiving: Grateful to be with my mom, say thanks to my 7th-grade teacher, Mr. Armbrecht, and return to my teenaged haunts: a lighthouse, and Lake Michigan. Continue reading
Aging / Family / Relationships
Before I was born, you knew me
Before I was born, you knew me. You sang lullabies to me, still unborn. You memorized my kicks, my restlessness. Wept with joy in hope, and wept with fear in despair: how to feed this unexpected mouth? Your first baby died – you were just 22… Continue reading
White-trash garlic bread
I can’t get no satisfaction. I grew up wanting more, and why not? It was my culture. Even the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger wailed dissatisfaction over a girl dissatisfied with him. But why? Blame it on TV… Continue reading
The last road trip: eulogy for my father
{Note: I wrote this on the flight to his funeral, after my dad died February 18, 2012.} Arthur Holter Born: Montana. Died: Wisconsin. Forever Home: Montana. May the circle be unbroken. My dad loved road trips. He died talking about them. There it is: that corded telephone. Dad was chatting with my older sister … Continue reading
Remembering
February 18, 2012. A year, how can it be? Gone.
We, his children, dig his grave and bury him – our father. Continue reading
Dog bones & relationships
Dog bones and Thanksgiving–what’s the connection? It’s the meatiness of solid relationships – not wispy, virtual ones – that are most satisfying… Continue reading
Stealing Easter
Growing up in Montana, Good Friday was an often snowy, three-hour noontime service, “Seven Last Words From the Cross.” We got the day off from elementary school for such religious things back then. (Yes, I lived in ancient times.) Impressionable, I’d shed a tear as our Lutheran pastor whispered those first words from the cross: “Father, forgive them…” … Continue reading
Aging / Family / Relationships
Divas & dads: dying to know…
My dad died a month ago today. Exactly one month ago this evening I sat at this computer cobbling together my global health web site, Global Health Lessons, background TV blaring a weepy funeral service for singer-diva Whitney Houston. Her death certificate blamed drowning, but the bigger blame was also Whitney’s deadly fondness for cocaine. … Continue reading
A lasting gift
My dad died suddenly a few weeks after all this happened. It turned out to be my last story for him, my last gift to him…. a lasting gift.
Continue reading
