CULTURE
Winging It: Dispatches from an (Almost) Empty Nest

When you open Winging It: Dispatches from an (Almost) Empty Nest (New York: Hudson Street Press, 2008), prepare to be entertained and inspired. This little gem of a book, written by Catherine Goldhammer, makes for a delightful read. In the author’s first book, Still Life with Chickens, Goldhammer relates the challenges of embarking upon postdivorce life with a precocious 12-year-old daughter in a ramshackle house by the sea—painstakingly restored to beauty, or at least livability—with a dog, a cat, and a backyard clutch of chickens. It’s not necessary to read the first book to appreciate the second (Goldhammer “catches you up” on her life situation in the Introduction), but the two work well as a team.

COUPLES
Love: When Time Stops

Time stops when a family member becomes seriously ill. It doesn’t really stop, of course. It’s just that nothing is as important as remaining by the loved one’s side, willing him or her, if you can imagine that, to heal. Consider the popular verse from Corinthians: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things . . . Love never fails.” This aptly conveys the passionate resolve revived when the family member is your life partner of 30 years.

MOVING ON
San Diego: More than a Beach

I was kind of surprised. I’d heard basically two things about San Diego: The climate is perfect, and it’s home to several major military installations. Oh—three things: It also boasts the wonderful San Diego Zoo. When I traveled there to visit my son, my assumptions were confirmed: I did find the climate to be perfect and the naval presence huge. And the San Diego Zoo was, indeed, wonderful. But what I also found was that life exists beyond the white sand beaches and distant naval carriers. In fact, the life that’s taken root in the formerly neglected inner city heralds an absolutely thriving downtown.

GENERATIONS
Excerpt from Letters to Sam: "Compassion Works Both Ways"

In 2006, Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, Philadelphia psychotherapist, columnist, and local radio personality, published Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons of Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life. Dr. Gottlieb and Sterling Publishing have graciously granted Empty Nest permission to reprint in this issue a chapter from the book that sums up the reason we are here, the reason we love: because we are meant to, because we need to. Although Gottlieb (a quadriplegic due to a freak accident many years ago) wrote the book for his autistic grandson, the lessons he imparts about loving can benefit readers of all ages.


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