The Meems

If you're new to this place, let me introduce you to our dear, dear friend, Leonard. Below are some posts I've written over the years about this loving, nob...

This marks the eve of the 365-day anniversary of Meems' "Transitioning" to Heaven. On March 16th, 2020 I decided to no longer kiss her soft cheeks or gently...

"How does goulash sound for when it's my turn to make Sunday night supper for the youth group?" Meems was like that. She planned her special occasion meals...

I didn't decorate the house for Easter this year which is saying a lot because I have amassed a considerable amount of vintage Easter decor of which I am ove...

[I wrote this in 2015 just after I moved Mom into memory care which is its own kind of quarantine. It reminds me to look for the good things in each day as ...

Many of you have asked how Meems is doing and whether or not I've been able to visit her. She spends each day in a state of suspended animation. Her voice ...

My mother met Leonard in September of 2010. I wrote this blog post in April of 2011. It marked the beginning of a dear, dear relationship between two octog...

On Thursday, January 9, 2020, Helen Katherine Williams Kinzbach, aka The Meems, turned 94 years old. NINE-TEE-FOUR. It was a low-key affair. There were bal...

We sat in a park watching our toddlers sliding down the small red plastic slide and scooting through the little yellow tunnel. As mothers do, we quietly cha...

But first...many of you have tentatively asked how Meems is doing. I say "tentatively" because it's been a while since my last update, and, sometimes the en...

That was then. This is most of the time. People often ask me how Meems is doing. I need to start pulling out my phone and showing this picture. It sums up...

Yesterday, I entered Mom’s cozy little room, set down the insulated fabric picnic hamper that now serves as my embroidery basket, and then, knelt to to be on...

I did something rather odd this morning. I trudged upstairs to the attic, retrieved a wrinkled, ancient chambray shirt from the color-coded storage tub care...

I was fifteen years old the first time that I thought that my mother was at death's door.  It was the summer of 1971.  Mom had just come home from the hospit...

My sister, Kathy, taught me to "find the funny" in life.  Back in the day, we laughed with each other and at each other until we were breathless with tears s...

Broken home. I heard those words during homeroom my senior year of high school - 1975 - in reference to me. My face burned hot with embarrassment. Sharanda ...

This photo sums up Meems' existence. She's become a cuddly lump of blankets in a hushed room with soft rays of sunlight filtering through the venetian blind...

"Why am I in prison?" Meems asked in a quiet, flat voice while pensively chewing on a tiny bite of a donut hole. Huh?! My brows wrinkled as I leaned in close...

Alan and I flew to Chicago yesterday for a visit with our firstborn. It’s been a weird trip so far. Two Days Ago: Alan called me at around 2PM to tell me th...