Connecticut Green Living

Amy Sedaris has said that after her mom died, she separated friends into those who understood and those who did not. “When my mom died, I divided people up: ‘Oh, both of your parents are alive? You go stand on that side of the street.’ Because you don’t know what it’s like ‘till you lose a parent. It just changes everything." She has also lost her father to Alzheimer's and shared her mutual grief with brother David on a recent episode of Anderson Cooper's "All there is" podcast. The transformation in our lives following such deep loss usurps our other relationships. I know it did, it has, for me. Even though I started off sound -- completing my thesis and master's with merit at King's College London when Mom passed in August 2018 -- I would soon realize I had few real friends. It also drove a wedge between me and family members it turns out I was not especially close to to begin with, while introducing me to cousins who knew grief and knew my pain and wa...

Every Earth Day my in-box overflows with press releases - everything from sustainable city lists to eco-friendly underwear. But this year, my heart was urging me to do something different. My maternal grandmother, whom I called "Mama Sue", was born and raised on a farm in Garner, Texas. She had 10 brothers and a little sister named Jessie, who died at just 10. Because of her upbringing Mama Sue behaved in ways that sometimes embarrassed me or made me laugh. I regret that. She became a respected geometry teacher in Alice, Texas and made delicious apple pies. Her only daughter, my mom - who went by Kathie, then Kathy, then Kathleen - also became a teacher. she married a New Jersey Jew, and I grew up on Walt Disney and dreidels, not the morning milking. Mom had great style, but never lost her country girl ways. She once had to kill a Buick-sized cockroach in my room in Alice because her citified daughter was squealing. Mom was 77. Here are their 22 lessons: 1. Be frugal - Mama...