Surely it’s not too much to expect people to calculate the effect of their heedlessness, to be mindful of this absent-mindedness, even to attribute their unwitting assaults to their own half-wittedness. In short, to think before it becomes necessary (or polite) to offer a perfunctory “Sorry.”
Books: New & Notable
In her new memoir, Edna O’Brien is rebellious and ravenous for adventure. Anchee Min struggles in America after shocking deprivation in China. Marisa Silver imagines the hope and disenchantment experienced by the “Migrant Mother” in Dorothea Lange’s famous photograph. And Khaled Hosseini’s novel examines the spiritual scarring left by tyranny, war, crime, lies, and illness on his characters.
My Blue Tuxedo Pants
By Paige Morrow Kimball
I think of those Blue Tuxedo Pants, and I find comfort in the memory of myself in them. Because when I wore them, I was most myself. Those were the moments I was able to live exquisitely and fully, letting go of the rules that truly don’t define me. And I’m reminded to live that way now. To appreciate each stage of my life and be who I truly am.
Dr. Ford on Emotional Health: What Is the Path to Healing for the Ohio Kidnapping Victims?
By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.
We asked Dr. Cecilia Ford, a psychologist in private practice since 1987, to discuss a possible path to psychological recovery for the three victims of the horrific kidnappings in Central Ohio.
Cleveland Kidnappings: Power, Possession, and Women’s Voices
By Chris Lombardi
Why is it dangerous to call the Ohio kidnappings “a domestic-violence” situation? Because we are all too familiar with—and consequently, numb to—the horrors embedded in violence against women.
Wednesday 5: Real Role Models for Girls, Women in Jazz, and the ‘Cutest Couple Ever.’
A mother teaches her daughter about “true” role models; a film counters the stories of women instrumentalists in the jazz movement; Marie Dutton Brown traces her journey in the publishing world over the last 43 years; Dr. Jackson Katz argues that violence against women should be reframed as a man’s isssue; and, after they’ve attracted more than 10 million YouTube views, meet the Internet’s “Cutest Couple Ever.”
‘Gatsby’: a Little Greater Than Expected
By Alexandra MacAaron
The movie is nearly two and a half hours long, so I was prepared for an epic. I was also, to be honest, prepared to be disappointed. And I was wrong.
Mallomars—My Way
By Susan Klatsky Cohen
How to spin out the pleasure of eating a Mallomar? Dunking is an option, of course, but there are more creative ways to dote on them . . .
Dr. Pat Consults: Painful Intercourse After Menopause, Part 1
By Patricia Yarberry Allen, MD and Evelyn Hecht, PT, ATC
A menopausal woman loses approximately 70 percent of her estrogen levels, and when she has not had intercourse for three years, this combination causes the pelvic-floor muscles to tighten, making intercourse painful. The old motto “Use it or lose it” is very applicable here!
Poetry Sunday: Mother’s Day
Many a poem will be read today. Some of them will be treacle, some treasure. “Boiling Point,” by Andrea Cohen, is treasure.
Edna Yarberry, Young at HeartBy Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.
My mother’s favorite annual event was her Kentucky church’s Mother-Daughter Night. I was invited every year, but never made it. Mommie reminded me when my sisters were unavailable that she “had to adopt a daughter” for that night, but “Never mind.” Well, she did mind, and I did know it.
Marcelina, Strong and Beautiful
By Susan Soriano
My late mother, Marcelina, wasn’t a wild thing, but she had heart and she had grit. She could snake clogged pipes, wring the neck of a bound-for-supper chicken—and brag about being the only hospital worker on her shift to give a big hug to the AIDS patient in the corner room.
Ro’s Recipes: In Praise of Mothers, Nuns, and Toffee Pudding
By Ro Howe
Our long-time contributor Ro Howe, chef/owner of Barraud Caterers, in New York City, had a grim, dour mom. Happily, she acquired several second mothers: the stern but benign Benedictine nuns at her boarding school. Here, in fond memory of the nuns-her-mothers, is a recipe for a real, and comforting, English pudding.
Growing Up with Scarlett O’Hara
By Toni Myers
Mother did outrageous things—cut the telephone cord when she thought Father had gotten too many calls (you have to be old to understand that this was just not done). She covered our dog Hansy with Chanel No. 5 after he got into the dead fish by the lake water. She drove across state lines to get fireworks in Ohio, setting them off like a maniac in northern Michigan . . .
Fashion Friday: To Mom, with Love from Your Daughter
This Mother’s Day, we share with you the gifts we gave our mothers that, often to our great surprise (and relief), lit up their world. These gifts—some frivolous, some extravagant, some well-planned, others whimsically chosen—would turn out to create lasting memories of our relationships with our mothers.
