by Barry Phegan | Apr 16, 2020 | Living Life, Social comment
After 4 Weeks of sheltering-in-place, here are some topics on my mind. I’d love to hear yours, so please comment or reply. Wishing you all well! Coronavirus Crazy Last week a neighbor on my street went into labor. She decided to drive the short distance to...
by Barry Phegan | Mar 31, 2020 | Living Life, Social comment
Homeschooling brings enthusiasm and commitment. Job losses depress more than income. Finding pleasure in simple things. Homeschooling Surprise — Engagement Brings Commitment Across the nation, parents of school-age children just finished their second week of...
by Barry Phegan | Mar 20, 2020 | Aging, Living Life, Social comment
Thursday, 3/12/2020 — Ambivalence Just one week ago, I flew from San Francisco airport to Seattle airport, then on to Wenatchee, WA, where my daughter and two grandchildren live. I’d waffled for days, “Should I go? What is the risk? If I don’t go now would...
by Barry Phegan | Feb 29, 2020 | Aging, Living Life, Social comment, Uncategorized
Loneliness is a national epidemic and it’s killing us. Social isolation is more lethal than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It increases inflammation, heart disease, dementia, and death rates. It’s linked to our opioid epidemic and soaring suicide rates. Despite...
by Barry Phegan | Feb 12, 2020 | Aging, Living Life, Social comment
A friend loaned me her copy of Gratitude (Knopf, 2019) by Oliver Sacks. Its spare 40 pages hold four beautiful little essays, each a memory or reflection written by Sacks in the closing years and months of his life. Though each essay yields many...
by Barry Phegan | Jan 14, 2020 | Aging, Living Life
When their time comes, some people are ready to take that last step. I wonder how it will be for me. Will I be ready? Last month I attended a memorial service for a recently departed friend. She’d been ill for some time, then suddenly took a steep dive....
