Burnt Chocolate Stories

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Showing posts from June, 2020

Here I Am

- June 24, 2020

Picking up Burnt Chocolate after a silent decade is challenging. The post I added last August hardly counts since I didn't let anyone know I published it. In some ways, writing you, my readers from long ago, feels like contacting a long lost boyfriend to see if he still remembers me. Part of me feels guilty and another part feels anxious. What if no one remembers me? What if I’ve lost my mojo? My memory is definitely not what it was. Maybe it wasn’t that good in the first place. Nevertheless, here I am. We’re living in Milwaukee now, having moved here from Madison two years ago. St. John’s on the Lake is a great place for retired folk. Steve and I fall somewhere near the younger end although there are neighbors here in their 90’s that are anything but doddering. My first friend here walks five miles a day and is about to celebrate her 86 th birthday. Another friend swims 20 lengths in the pool on a daily basis. If I look to my left, there’s a concert pianist and o

My Ten Year Hiatus

What happened to my postings on Burnt Chocolate that began in 2006 and ended abruptly in December 2009? Our son Ben died on July 3, 2008, after an eight year struggle with ALS. While I managed to post a few pieces about loss and grief, the joy was gone. In 2009, we created ALS Worldwide to assist persons afflicted with ALS. For the past decade, my writing has focused on developing and maintaining the website, emails, patient support and research. And while the work continues, now, in 2020, space has opened up in my life to write, once again, with joy, about my family and life in the last chapter.