Gratitude | Mixed Metaphors

Feb 08 2026

Old People Problems

Musings on aging, retirement, and a life well-lived.

“Somedays, I wonder if I need a new operating system, a brain reboot, and memory upgrade. A common sign of aging for me is the time that it takes to recall names, movie, and book titles, and the list goes on. My primary care doctor reassures me it’s not the first sign of dementia, simply aging.” — Excerpt from Things Change

“It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.” — Margaret Mead

The Road Never Traveled

There are branching points in life when a journey takes a different direction and where the destination is often unknown. I’m on that pathway this last chapter of my life. It began when I made the decision at the age of 75, on the eve of my 76^th birthday when I decided to retire after working 65 years beginning at the age of 11. Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Aging, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Health, LGBTQ, Longevity, Madison, Procrastination, Recovery, Relationships, Retirement, To-Do Lists, Work, Writing

Jan 24 2026

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Retirement Journey: A Writer’s Life

Retirement Journey: Part III

The Backstory

As I begin this essay on retirement, it’s another frigid winter day in Madison, Wisconsin, my chosen home for over 50 years. Today is the kind of day to muse and reflect on life. It’s one of the best decisions I ever made, moving from my hometown of Racine to this progressive seat of state government and the University of Wisconsin.

There are some decisions we make that change the trajectory of our lives. For me, this was one of them. Others include storytelling and writing about my life, dropping out of college and gaining my education in the streets as a social activist, marrying my first love, coming out as a lesbian, recovering from alcohol, substances, and harming behaviors, my long-term lesbian partnership, the decision to live alone and thrive, and most recently, retire after working for 65 years beginning at 11-years-old.

One common theme in each of those decisions is that I crossed the threshold of an unknown journey —yet trusted in that knowing place in my gut — it was the right decision at the right time. Forever grateful. Continue reading →

Tagged A Writer's Life, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Human Becoming, Human Being, Human Doing, Madison, Recovery, Relationships, Retirement, Retirement Journey, Stories, What Have I've Been Doing?, What's Ahead?, Work

Dec 31 2025

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The Last Chapter: Retirement Reset

Retirement Journey: Part II

“You cannot give your life more time, so give your time more life.” — Unattributed

“Instead of a human doing, I want to be a human being.” — Retirement Aspiration

A Look Back at the Year

As a person in recovery, at the end of the day, I often take a daily inventory, a review of the day to assess my successes and missteps. I ask if there are amends to be made, and how I can do better moving forward. On this eve of the New Year and my 76^th birthday in January, I continue to be a work in progress.

At the end of each year, like many others on the eve of the New Year, I look back at the highlights and lowlights — the gains and the losses — the hellos and goodbyes.

For this blog, I often write a year-in- review. Full disclosure: I’m sometimes a bit snarky in response to the holiday letters people send this time of year, yet I must admit, this is my version. I understand why it’s important to review one’s year, to celebrate wins and acknowledge losses, and if one chooses, to share with loved ones and friends. A lot happens in a day, a year, and a life. Continue reading →

Tagged 2025 Year-In-Review, 2026, A Look Ahead, A Look Back, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Family, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Holidays, Human Being, Human Doing, Intentions, Last Chapter, New Year, NYE, Recovery, Relationships, Retirement, Urge to Purge, Work Life

Nov 30 2025

Posts

From Human Doing to Human Being

Retirement Journey: Part I

“It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.” — Margaret Mead

“The path ahead: Take it one day at a time, to live in the moment, to be a human being, not a human doing, and when I’m able, a human becoming.” — Retirement Aspiration

How I Got Here

Two weeks ago, I made the difficult and life-changing decision to retire at the end of the year. I had been thinking about it for the past year, as I watched the dust collect in my home, and my closets and kitchen cabinets overflow. Next, piles of books, old technology, last year’s holiday decorations, and the last box of photos and newspaper clippings from our childhood after our father died began to find homes under the bed and stacked along the walls. I need to purge and let go of material things to make room for living.

Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Childhood, Childhood Trauma & Neglect, Chosen Family, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Home, Human Becoming, Human Being, Human Doing, Life, Mounjaro, Recovery, Relationships, Retirement, Sisters, Therapy, Things Change, Time, Work

Oct 26 2025

4 Comments

Posts

The Last Closet Door: Act III

Secret Life: Clean Out the Closet

“All human beings have three lives, a public life, a private life, and a secret life.” Hamill added, “A private life is by invitation only. A secret life is nobody’s business.” — Pete Hamill

“You can’t be what you can’t see.” — Martha Popp

Today, October 26, 2025 is Intersex Awareness Day.

Background on the Series

For readers who missed the first installment of this series — I opened the last closet door to the public on October 26, 2023, Intersex Awareness Day, when I revealed — I’m intersex. I was born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS). Today, again, I invite you to learn about my private and secret life.

A simple definition: Intersex is an umbrella term that describes bodies that fall outside the strict male/female binary. There are two types of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, complete and partial. My condition is the former (CAIS) and can be described as follows: Infants with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome appear to be female at birth, but do not have a uterus, fallopian tubes, or ovaries. Their testicles (gonads) are hidden inside the pelvis or abdomen. Breasts develop during puberty, but there is little or no pubic and armpit hair. Continue reading →

Tagged Alcoholism, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, Bodily Autonomy, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Intersex Awareness Day, Letting Go, LGBTQ, Private Life, Public Life, Recovery, Relationships, Secret Life, Shame, Stigma, Stories, The Last Closet Door, Trauma

Sep 28 2025

Posts

Holy Wisdom Writing Retreat: Meditations & Musings

On Saturday, August 9, I attended a day-long, silent writing retreat with 15 other writers. It was an extremely hot and humid summer day, spent indoors, except for breaks outdoors in the restored prairie, writing silently inside the meditative environs of the Holy Wisdom Monastery.

On Friday, the day before the retreat, it seemed that my registration from two weeks earlier may not have been confirmed. A work colleague, Becca, shared the writing retreat information with me. When I posted my weekly Facebook TGIF Update, I acknowledged that my original plan to attend the retreat wouldn’t happen. I let it go.

Instead, I decided to work at home in the writing alcove of my hideout, a 645 square foot apartment, where I live alone. Gratefully, later in the day, I learned that there were a couple of cancellations, and the retreat facilitator confirmed my attendance. Grateful. Things change! Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Holy Wisdom Monastery, Home, Hospice, Journals & Journaling, LGBTQ, Loss, Love, Meditation, Musings, Personal Narratives, Recovery, Retreat, Stand-Up Comedy, Stories, The Writing Process, Therapy, Writing

May 23 2025

Posts

Mining for Rubies: 40 Years of Recovery

“You have no need to travel anywhere – journey within yourself. Enter a mine of rubies and bathe in the splendor of your own light.” — Rumi

As a writer and a blogger, I named my blog, Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! I found that metaphors helped me explore lived experiences, ideas, and a spiritual life, and articulate how I see and interact with the world, or journey inward in self-examination. Continue reading →

Tagged 40th Anniversary, AA, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Alcoholism, Family, Gratitude, Harm Reduction, Harming Behaviors, Journaling, Metaphors, Mining for Rubies, Mother, Outpatient Treatment, Recovery, Recovery Medallions, Relationships, Stories, Substance Use

Mar 08 2025

Posts

Self-Care During Uncertain Times

“Self-care is how you take your power back.” – Lalah Delia

“When we give ourselves compassion, we are opening our hearts in a way that can transform our lives.” – Kristin Neff

First, before I write anything else, let me simply state, I’m grateful. I’m alive, I woke up in a safe and warm home, I’m 75-years-old, and I have a gift of this new day. I’ve learned not to take anything for granted and to acknowledge I’m loved and I have abundance in my life. Life is not always easy, yet it’s worth the commitment and work of self-care. I may not have everything I want; yet I have everything I need. I’m lucky. Continue reading →

Tagged 12-Step Recovery, AA, Affirmations, Chaos, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Journaling, Peer Support, Recovery, Relationships, Resilience, Self-Care, Sobriety, Therapy, Uncertainty

Dec 31 2024

Posts

Things Change: Look Back at 2024 & Look Ahead to 2025

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

On the Sunday before New Year’s Day, I relaxed in my recliner, watched CBS Sunday Morning — my weekly ritual — with the fireplace glowing, cozy, under my holiday gift of a soft throw. Definitely, a hygge moment. Hygee is defined as follows, “…a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).”

Continue reading →

Tagged 2024, 2025, Brother, Childhood Home, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, Intentions, Look Ahead, Look Back, Mounjaro, New Year, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Sisters, Things Change, Tiny Home

Sep 27 2024

2 Comments

Posts

Things Change

“There is nothing permanent except change.” — Heraclitus

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” —Alan Watts

As a person of a certain age — my favorite euphemism for old —change is an undeniable truth of life. As I write, it’s the eve of autumn, the changing of the seasons, and the day before a memorial service for a coworker, confidant, and friend. Things Change has also been the theme of this year, and the title of my 17th annual journal, which begin in September. It’s also the final chapter of my life — no longer a dress rehearsal — yet an opportunity “To change the things I can” and leave a legacy behind, the measure of my life. Continue reading →

Tagged Culture, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Health, Holidays, Home, Loss, Love, Madison, Mother, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Technology, Things Change, Work

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Gratitude

Old People Problems

Retirement Journey: A Writer’s Life

The Last Chapter: Retirement Reset

From Human Doing to Human Being

The Last Closet Door: Act III

Holy Wisdom Writing Retreat: Meditations & Musings

Mining for Rubies: 40 Years of Recovery

Self-Care During Uncertain Times

Things Change: Look Back at 2024 & Look Ahead to 2025

Things Change