Category: Uncategorized
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Chapter 69. One Year Later.
We settled there some 48 years ago. The half-acre property sitting in the middle of an urban area gave us all we needed: space for our two cats and two dogs. And it would ultimately give us the place where we would acquire and say good-bye to more cats, dogs. . . . among them our 7 beloved…
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Chapter 68. Little Things.
Once a week I walk over to King Soopers to pick up a bouquet of lilies which, are, in my opinion, the best flowers because they 1) last a long time, 2) come with some buds already opened and others waiting for their turn, and 3) have a lovely pungent gingery odor. This morning, I…
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Chapter 67. My Clandestine Relationship.
Some people hang out in parks for drug deals. Or to meet up with a lover. Me? I put on my jeans, my walking shoes, my favorite t-shirt featuring a Gorilla, and drive across town to connect with, are you ready, a Newfoundland Dog named Dobby. This big boy is owned and loved by a friend…
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Chapter 66. The House is Sold.
We closed on the house yesterday. Prior to the official closing, we met with the new buyers, a couple, both lawyers in their early 30’s. I had prepared a spreadsheet of items, contractors, people who fix broken things, electrical information, swamp cooler, you know, house stuff. I also printed out information on the architect who designed the house…
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Chapter 65. A Passing
The husband of a friend died yesterday. I only met him briefly and I’ve only known her since last April when she and I worked on a fundraiser together. I liked her immediately. She is straightforward in that East Coast way. Blunt. To the point. No time for nonsense. It’s a new friendship, one I hope to nurture more deeply. …
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Chapter 64. We Live in a Hallmark Movie
I didn’t think this up. My niece, Laurie, did. I was chatting with her this morning, and she commented on the Christmas light show in our Town Center. “You live in a Hallmark movie,” she said. She’s a genius. She really is. For forty-eight years, GB and I lived in the solitude of our half-acre garden. The architecture of the…
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Chapter 63. Dementia
I have a relative with Lewy body dementia. I thought I’d write about this because of the devastating impact this form of dementia, and others, has on the family. And the patient suffering from it. You’ve heard the jokes, “Oh, dementia by the time they have it, they’ve already forgotten about it.” Not exactly true. My…
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Chapter 62. Lonely laps.
Dogs love dog parks. They love sniffing each other, romping, fighting over balls or Frisbees. Their tails work furiously to wiggle their bodies. Tongues out, eyes bright. Yep. Dogs love dog parks. And so, do I. I have made a point to visit dog parks wherever we travel. GB objects but begrudgingly gives in. I can sit for hours watching dogs. I know…
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Chapter 61. Aging sucks. Or not.
I look at my hands, and I see the same wrinkly, veined hands as my mother’s. And my grandmother’s. And it isn’t just the outward appearance of my hands. It’s the way I hold things. A little digression here. Remembering this reminds me of the years when my mom worked downtown. She added an additional thirty minutes to her commute…
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Chapter 60. My Passion for Animals
I have always loved animals. My earliest memories are of my grandparents’ dog, Tessie. I must have been two or three, and I think I remember the feel of her. I say “think” because it might be because of the many years of family discussions about that dog ingrained into my mind. She was a hero, a champion. She was…
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Chapter 59. Women
I love women. I love working with them, living with them, being friends with them. I especially love that I am one. Years ago, I was a lobbyist. I was one of a few women in the field at the time. At times it was unpleasant. Unwanted advances, comments and just plain dismissals were routine. Don’t get me…
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Chapter 59. My Front Porch
For forty-eight years, we lived on a secluded property. A thirty-foot-tall brick wall created the facade of the house. There were no windows so we couldn’t watch the events on the street or sidewalk. The wall was framed by three spectacular Red Bud trees. A walkway paralleled by Oregon Grape and covered by a pergola led to the front…
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Chapter 58. Living Small
I love living small. It’s a blessing. I loved living larger. I loved the home we had. The gardens. The space. The privacy. But now I love the other. The noise of the city. The community of people who share my interests, or not. I love walking across the driveway to the pool or to the fitness center where I now teach my…
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Chapter 57. From April to September: What Changed
Living at Everleigh is a gigantic change in our lives. I suspect I like it more than GB does because at the house, I was responsible for everything. Shopping, repairs, maintenance, garden, meals, social calendar, chickens, dogs, cats, grandsons. I did that, plus work full-time for 48 years. He got to enjoy it. No wonder I was exhausted. Then…
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Chapter 56. Fifty Years.
Fifty years ago, today, GB and I got married. It was a small ceremony held in his back yard. My parents, his parents, my brother and his family, his brother and wife attended. Cruiser R. Roozer, my dog, was also there. Rabbi Steven Foster officiated. Our Chupah was the arched branch of a Lindenwood Tree. Marijuana planted by brother Chuck filled the…
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Chapter 55. The Importance of Stuff
For as long as I can remember, I have made statements like this: Things mean nothing to me. They’re all replaceable. If the house burned down today, I’d be fine just so long as I saved the animals. I always wondered if I meant it. A couple of weekends ago, we had an estate sale. Rebecka (the estate…
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Chapter 54. My Forever Friends.
I’ve probably told pieces of these stories before, but I’m going to try to put them together in this writing. It’s more for my benefit than anything else. I suspect I was born loving dogs. My earliest recollections contain a large, furry presence protecting me. That was, of course, Tessie, the Doberman my grandfather, Louis, purchased years…
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Chapter 53. La famiglia di mio marito
GB was adopted by a nice Jewish family. He was officially converted to Judaism when he was about 7. He remembers the event vividly because he and his brother, Chuck, were taken to the West Side and dipped in the waters of the mikvah, a ritual bath. He wasn’t told why it was necessary. Some 60 years later,…
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Chapter 52. Ghosts
I shouldn’t have, but I did anyway. I returned to the house today to look for an iron. As I walked through examining all our belongings placed for sale, I was fine. I was even okay when I looked at the overgrown vegetable garden. I was all right when I looked at the St. Francis statue that protects Paulina’s…
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Chapter 51. Building Capacity
I volunteer for National Newfoundland Rescue. This group rescues, fosters, medically treats and adopts Newfs or Newf mixes. My absolute adoration of this breed is well known to my friends and family. GB and I loved 7 Newfs over a period of 40 years. Other, equally wonderful dogs, cats, chickens, and one naughty little conure named Paulina, were interspersed…
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Chapter 50. New Energies.
Monkey did the zoomies. For anyone who hasn’t lived with a dog, it means chasing around crazy-like because life is just so damn good. Monkey loves apartment living. She likes everything about it from her first early morning quickie outside for potty, to breakfast, then back to bed, then outside for a longer walk to do serious…
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Quick note on 4th of July
Apparently the photos didn’t show up in the blog sent through email. So, please go to the site http://www.feliciadiamond.com to see a great AI generated pic of the event as well as photos of our first two Newfies, Max and Winnie. Now I’m just a little bit irritated with WordPress.
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Chapter 49. The 4th of July
We began living with Newfies in 1986. Our first, Max, was a rescue and after a great deal of energy and work, he became an incredible companion and visited children at University Hospital. A year later, we decided we would invest in another Newfie to be a show dog. Her name was Winnie and it didn’t work out…
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Chapter 48. I Wonder What God is Doing These Days.
I wonder where God is working these days. Has he found another world worth creating? Another world where there will be lush valleys, majestic mountains, bountiful oceans? Another world where there will be sentient life that respects the awesomeness of the work that has been done? I wonder what God thinks about the world he founded. Is he angry? Is…
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Chapter 47. Moving
Moving is horrible. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. We downsized from a 2200 square foot house, not large by today’s standards, to an 1100 square foot apartment. We downsized from a half-acre garden to a front porch and a patio. We downsized and then did it again. And again. And one more time. We took each room of our…
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Chapter 46. Alba
I guess sometime in 1978, I received a call from GB’s receptionist. She was taking belly dancing lessons and heard a story of a girl from Nicaragua who needed help. The receptionist suggested that GB and I would be the right people to do this since we were always rescuing animals and why not a little girl?…
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Chapter 45. Need to Build a Pond
For some reason, I received a call from the Colorado Humane Society about ducks frozen on a pond. Apparently, they needed homes after the rescue. Of course, GB and I ran right over to adopt them. At the time, we had our original two dogs, Cruiser R Roozer and Barney, plus a number of cats.…
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Chapter 44. Goodbye to the Garden
We’ve begun the move! I’m looking forward to a whole bunch of things I’m not looking forward to doing. Like, weeding, watering, planting, tending, calling the gardener, oh, yes, I love her, but, still . . . .or waiting for the lawn guys to rip through the garden in less than 30 seconds. I’m also…
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Chapter 43. The Denver Chamber Orchestra
Our lives never seemed to follow a proscribed linear motion. It feels like it has come in chunks of time, entering through doors that were left ever so slightly ajar. A friend I knew when I was a lobbyist introduced me to the Denver Chamber Orchestra. I joined her one evening for a concert led by the…
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Chapter 42. It’s Time to Talk about Monkey
Monkey arrived in our home in, I think, 2011. GB and I had been hiking with our two Newfs, Doc and Nisha, near Evergreen. As we approached our car, I noticed a rescue group holding an event. I spotted a little Shih Tzu and GB said, “Go look”. I did. I walked up to the little Shih Tzu who…
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Chapter 41. Goodbye Olive and Dolores
Today was a gloriously beautiful Colorado day filled with clear blue skies and a perfect view of the entire Front Range. Those of us who are lucky enough to live here know that we can see from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. In between the two, there is a gentle curvature of mountains and foothills protecting…
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Chapter 40. Going Home.
In 1940, my grandparents, Louis and Celia Altberger, were living in a one-bedroom apartment in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. My mom had married the previous year and was living in Pueblo with my dad. Louis, always the man with the big ego, came home one day with a puppy in his arms. What the hell is that? Asked…
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Chapter 39. A New Home for the Chickens
A Forever Home for the Hens Yesterday GB and I visited a multi-species rescue operation near Ft. Lupton, which is about 30 miles north of Denver. A young woman named Tiffany had responded to my posting on a Facebook page known as Colorado Chickens II. My first choice came through an offer from a woman named…
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Chapter 38. The Last Seder
I finished setting the table a little while ago. It’s set for six people: my sister-in-law, Jane, my niece, Laurie, our friends Cathy Grimes and Rick Mellicker, GB and me. As I have done for the past thirty years, I composed the Seder myself. I began hosting the Seders after my brother, Steve, died thirty years ago on…
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Chapter 37. Chickens
The chickens are breaking my heart. I love almost everything about them. The way they run to me when I call their names. The way they chatter with each other. The way Olive calls out to Dolores just to make sure she’s still there. The looks I get when I open the nest door to see what they’re doing, which…
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Chapter 37. Chickens
The chickens are breaking my heart. I love everything about them. The way they run to me when I call their names. The way they chatter with each other. The way Olive calls out to Dolores just to make sure she’s still there. The looks I get when I open the nest door to see what they’re doing, which is,…
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Chapter 35. A Little Political Rant.
When Adolph Hitler wanted to exert control over Germany, he began with the arts. He called it Degenerate Art and it was deemed inappropriate for the new Germanic kingdom. All modern art was in this category. The movement to control art was so successful, Hitler moved on to architecture, music, literature and of course managed to revise history. Some…
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Chapter 34. Monkey
Today I’m writing about Monkey, who is our only dog after nearly 50 years of multiple dogs, cats, and other critters. Right now, she is at the front gate barking. At nothing. In a few minutes, she’ll join me in the office and curl up in her bed that sits in front of the heater and take a…
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Chapter 33. A Few Tears
The other day, GB and I met with a realtor. I didn’t expect it, but as I began talking about selling the house, I cried. Surprised myself! I have known intellectually that selling would be difficult, but I really thought I was emotionally prepared. I wasn’t. I’m not. There are people who move frequently. That’s always amazed me because the…
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Chapter 33. A Few Tears
The other day, GB and I met with a realtor. I didn’t expect it, but as I began talking about selling the house, I cried. Surprised myself! I have known intellectually that selling would be difficult, but I really thought I was emotionally prepared. I wasn’t. I’m not. There are people who move frequently. That’s always amazed me because the…
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Chapter 32. Grief
We heard Anderson Cooper speak this week at the Colorado Speakers Series. He spoke about grief, his changing life, the deaths of his mother, father, and brother. He spoke of the grief that surrounded him during reporting the most heinous war crimes. But that grief wasn’t his. He used the collective grief of war-torn countries as a protective…
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Chapter 31. Aging Strikes at the Movies
Now maybe the other aging sign I suffered this weekend was watching the film, Anora. I hated it. I didn’t care about the characters. I didn’t think it was funny. The scriptwriter abused my favorite word by repeating it maybe 10,000 times in 2 hours and 19 minutes. The English language contains many more words than fuck. I liked the ending…
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Chapter 30. Power
I suppose I’ve accepted the diminishment of power in my life as I age. Letting go of the empowerment of work creates a void that in retirement is filled by less important duties. Having spent a life to make change, do things better, create systems that work has been a privilege afforded by few. I’ve been lucky…
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Chapter 29. Living Small.
The smallness is enveloping us. Our lives, once filled with work, volunteer jobs, parties, events, activities, and days not long enough to cover all the happenings, are now limited. Ours was not a “big” life in the sense that we changed the world, but it was active. Many of our relationships, I’ve discovered, were transactional. That’s not bad. It’s…
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Chapter 28A. Our Last Newfoundland Dog
Loving dogs is a life-time effort. I’ve lived with them my entire life. Let’s just say GB married into it. And he had no idea where it would lead. Having dogs is a life choice. Having Newfoundlands is a lifestyle choice. The size, the stubbornness, the drool, the hair, the expense are all things from which the average, normal human…
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Chapter 28. Our Last Newfoundland Dog
I sit here tonight alternating between collecting my thoughts, wiping my tears, and going over to where Boomer lay. Today, his long struggle with myelopathy ended with the collapse of his rear legs and the loss of control over bowel and bladder. Tonight, a veterinarian will come and peacefully send Boomer away from us. Boomer is a…
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Chapter 27. Aging Gives Us a Shot Across the Bow.
We will have to move. There are two reasons. First, our investments alone will not carry us for 20 more years. Second, neither of us have the physical strength or health to do the necessary upkeep on the house and gardens. Yes. We could hire it out but that defeats the purpose of living here. But, we can’t move…
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Chapter 26. My Brother.
I was born so my brother would have someone to torment. We grew up in the ‘50’s and it was a perfect time to be a kid. We freely roamed the streets, alleys and parks. Got on busses and went where we pleased. Walked to the movie theatre where my brother would tell me I couldn’t sit with him…
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Chapter 25. How I Met GB
Two full months have elapsed. GB is doing very well. His three major issues: shuffling/walking/balance, incontinence, and cognition have all improved! He’s walking normally, still a bit tentative but that’s okay, he lifts his feet and walks. All good. Not so much with me, though. My August fall did something wrong to my spine and I’m going in for an MRI to…
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Chapter 24. Bookends
We’ve all read lots of books. Some we’ve read just for the hell of it. Others because we had to. But there are the very few, I think, that resonate for a lifetime. They’re like bookends on knowledge. When I was living in Kansas after grad school, I read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. And, until yesterday, I believed…
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Chapter 23. GB Update and A Few Comments on Hoarding
It’s been six weeks since the surgery. The major symptoms, shuffling and incontinence have abated significantly. Yay! The cognitive issues remain pretty much the same, but GB is busy exercising his brain with puzzles and reading. He went in for his checkup today and the brain scan showed some of his brain was disappearing. I guess that’s not the…
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Chapter 22. Clucks (Trigger warning: This chapter contains truths about chickens and mice)
He said NO. No chickens ever, GB said in his firmest voice. But I was smitten. We were visiting Stone Barns Center in the Hudson Valley, an organic educational farm and home of Michelin star restaurant Blue Hill. The laying hens were pasture-raised, meaning they had access to acres of fresh greens, worms, and yummy bugs. I picked up a Rhode…
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Chapter 21. Diana Price Fish Cancer Foundation
I had an idea. It came to me one night when I offered to take a Denver Chamber Orchestra volunteer to a concert. Her name was Catherine, and she was 30 years old and dying from brain cancer. As we sat listening to the DCO play The Brandenburg Concertos, she turned to me, took my hand…
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Chater 20. Tripped Up.
We had explored every peninsula along the coast of Maine. It took 10 years. And in 1995, we decided to move there. We looked at homes on the coast. We worked with a dental business consultant to find a practice. The one we liked was in Union, a good 30-minute drive from our coastal home picks. That was on a good…
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Chapter 19. Bad Boys
Writer’s note: It has dawned on me that I’ve turned my dealing-with-age blog into a vehicle for stories. I’m having fun doing this. I hope you enjoy. When my grandfather, Louis, died in 1969, I never imagined I would miss him throughout my own life. And often. I heard his voice in my ear as…
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Subscriber update
My technical skills, sadly, are terrible. I messed up Chapter 18. Passion. The first photo, which is adorable, doesn’t show up. If you want to see it, simply visit feliciadiamond.com or click on Read on Blog or Reader.
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Chapter 18. Passion.
I know. You’re thinking this’ll be about sex. It’s not. When GB and I were going through our daily ritual of rummaging through memorabilia, I came across a picture of me when I was about 2 or 3 years old. I’m with Tessie, the dog for whom Louis bought the house. Tessie was my first nanny and my first dog. I…
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Chapter 17. Three Weeks After
The temporary shunt was placed three weeks ago today. It seemed that it made a difference so the plan to place the permanent one was offered. And accepted. There has been a difference. GB’s walk is better. The incontinence seems to be better. The cognition is likely the same, although it wasn’t terribly terrible before…
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Chapter 16. My Mother
My friend, Susan, tells me she loves my writing but that I don’t go deep. I counter with the fact that I’m not deep. My brain moves from one topic to another, travels through time, jumps ahead then back. She has complained that she wants to get to know the people I reference but that sometimes I give…
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Chapter 15. Summer Nights
Chapter 15. Summer Nights Our garden has been a retreat; a place of quiet, solitude and beauty; a haven for small critters, little green snakes, the dogs, the cats, the chickens. The garden had its own life force, at times demanding and then comforting. We shared it as often as possible through small dinner parties, an anniversary party…
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Chapter 14. The Last Eclipse
By the time I managed to organize myself to take us to the total eclipse in Wyoming on August 21, 2017, everywhere was pretty much sold out. I found a website for the City of Glendo,, a town of about 200 people. I chose Glendo because 1) it was in the full path of the eclipse and…
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Chapter 13. Between the Lines.
Many years ago when I was in Budapest, I visited a palm reader. She looked at my lifeline and said that I would suffer some sort of trauma, but I would survive it. Then she charged me $75 which, in 1995, was a ridiculous amount of money to pay. I created a scene about it, embarrassed my cousins…
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Chapter 12. Thanksgiving
I have literally spent hours trying to figure out the technology of the blog. The very kind people at wordpress have attempted to walk me through detailed instructions, none of which I understand. They send screen shots, all of which have fonts too small for me to read. But, I think I have bumbled my…
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Chapter 11. A Good Day
Let me remember. GB came home last Friday. Today is Tuesday, November 26. Friday through Monday were difficult days for GB. He had pain and his body had to adapt to its new pressure system. As I think I’ve mentioned, no one talks much about brain surgery before it happens. Moderate pain. Right. So, GB spent the days in bed. Prone was his best…
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Chapter 10. I Suck at This.
No question about it. I am not a nurse. I’m not even a caregiver. I have no tolerance for pain or discussion of bathrooms. GB has a long haul ahead of him. His head hurts. His neck hurts. He’s dizzy. He’s tired. He can’t hear anything. This is normal after surgery like this but let’s face it, he’s a man. Men should…
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Chapter 8. The Trip We Took and the One We Didn’t.
South Africa was one of my impulse purchases. A week safari was offered at a live auction and I thought it sounded like a good idea. I began raising my paddle as GB looked at me in astonishment. Maybe horror. I know he was shocked as I hadn’t mentioned that I would suddenly decide to do this. The safari was…
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Chapter 7. Saint Joseph Hospital
I have to say that St. Joe’s is a gorgeous facility. It’s light, airy and filled with amazing staff. The doctor gave the okay for the permanent placement of the shunt. It was scheduled for 2 pm then got moved up to 10:30 am. The neurosurgeon, Dr. Rockiki, told GB that if his earlier patient…
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Chapter 6. Good news.
The key to success in this venture is the opinion of the physical therapist. GB was tested prior to the procedure and then the day after. That’s today. If there is noticeable improvement, then the second surgery will be performed to place the permanent shunt. The team and I arrived simultaneously. I was nervous. GB…
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Chapter 5. Him.
In 1947, Gene Bloom was born to an Italian-Irish Catholic mother who had fallen in love with the wrong man. Her family was told nothing about this secret child and when Robert was born, he was given to an orphanage. He remained there until he was six months old and was adopted by Louis and Betha Bloom.…
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Chapter 4. Me.
It has been suggested that I have led a privileged life. I wouldn’t disagree. I had two major traumas in my early childhood. The first was when my parents refused to believe I needed glasses. The second was when a teacher decided to hate me. That was in 6th grade. By the time I survived my traumas, I was 22. I had…
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Chapter 3. Marriage, The Last Trips and Monday, November 19, 2024
Gene Bloom and I were married three months after meeting at our 10th high school reunion. He was a dentist and I had begun my career as a lobbyist. My career was an accident, his was intentional. He would ultimately spend his working years in dentistry, joining the State Board of Dental Examiners, travelling to test future dentists, and…
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Chapter 2. More recently, two trips in health.
Seven years ago, we spent the month of August in Italy. We rented a car and drove only the backroads of the south. It was a gloriously beautiful trip filled with all the wonderful things of Italy: food, more food, wine, farms, ruins, quaint little towns. We stopped in at Tolve, the little town GB’s biological great grandparents…
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Chapter 1. It wasn’t the house. It was the land.
We settled here some 47 years ago. The half-acre property sitting in the middle of an urban area gave us all we needed: space for our two cats and two dogs. And it would ultimately give us the place where we would acquire and say good-bye to more cats, dogs. . . . among them our 7 beloved…
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Air.
Chapter 1. It wasn’t the house. It was the land. We settled here some 47 years ago. The half-acre property sitting in the middle of an urban area gave us all we needed: space for our two cats and two dogs. And it would ultimately give us the place where we would acquire and say good-bye to more cats, dogs.…
Air. 