Kathryn Kauffman of Gainesville, formerly of Dunedin (FL), Billerica, and Lynn (MA), died on November 13th. She follows her husband of more than 50 years, James, who passed in 2021. Among those who remain behind to morn her loss: her son John, her daughters Christine and Lisa, as well as four grandchildren. She was 82 years old.
Born Kathryn Conner, she was the child of Wendell and Elizabeth…
A while back I wrote about a call I received in court on a really bad day. It invovled mistaken identities, my mother, and the possibility of cancer. If you recall, there was an instant when I was relieved it was my mother – because it meant it wasn’t my wife. I’d made a choice, consciously or not, and it made me feel terrible. We all make them. I don’t think we can help…
The background: Cheryl (known to many of you as my wife) had an MRI done recently due to chronic back pain.
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It was one of those court days where several people needed to be escorted out of the building. A little conflict goes with the territory. Your agency sues someone, you expect a little hostility. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for both sides to leave with no love to…
Call it generational bias. Blame it on the way history is taught in school (with one exception, in my case). The world before 1960 seems black and white. I hear it in the stories older generations tell.
It’s not, of course. The world isn’t just filled with gray, it’s filled with all the colors of the spectrum.
I’ve been fooling around with a birthday gift the last few days…
“Grandma’s coming home tomorrow right? I can’t wait!”
That was Beth Wednesday night, talking to me and our pastor on the first night of confirmation class this (school) year.
“So when will she be coming HOME home?”
That was when Beth realized home can be a relative term.
“Oh,” she replied, crestfallen.
That was when I told her the truth, unvarnished…
My parent’s 40th wedding anniversary is coming up next week, so I assumed I’d be making the drive up to Chattahoochee this weekend with my dad.
But I’m not.
My mother is being released to a local assisted living facility on Thursday. I’ll see her right here in good ‘ole Pinellas County on Friday.
The place looks really nice – about as different from a state…
Clearly, I do not.
I arrived in Tallahassee Friday night with all of the essentials: my computer, phone, and their cables. However, I did not have the little things; like a brush, toothbrush, or deodorant.
A sticker on the mirror at the hotel reassured, “Forget anything? Ask for it at the front desk.” So I asked. I can follow instructions. I didn’t think the answer would be…
I have a plan. Do you have any idea how odd those words sound in my head, coming from my mouth? Thanks to a gentle nudge from Cheryl, I’m going to try to exorcise a pinch of guilt this Friday by making the long drive up to Chattahoochee to see my mom.
Let it be known: this doesn’t make me a good son. A good son wouldn’t suffer from mixed feelings. Don’t get me wrong…
I’m not sure how I feel about it, but the hospital is making tentative plans to discharge my mother. This should be good news, right? The thing is, she’s not being released to go home – she’s not well enough. Instead, they’re making arrangements for her to be placed in an assisted living facility.
If my life had a soundtrack, something foreboding would be playing…
When we were four
Originally uploaded by jkauffman
Once again my father has upstaged me in our computer arms race. It seems that every time I buy a computer he buys a better one. To be fair, our replacement cycles are similarly modest, he earns more money, and his computing needs are more robust… but come on dad! Give a nerd a break.
Well this time he didn’t get another…