Wait, what happened next?

I need to know what happened next in your life! I met so many of you in the last year and had funny, sad, poignant, and meaningful conversations. But I don’t know what came next. Maybe you can tell me. I learned that one of you didn’t get paid enough and asked for a raise.…

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In Camp We Trust

In Bummer Camp We Trust

In Camp We Trust. “I want to bring everyone to Northern Wisconsin to the camp I worked at as a brand new nurse. The camp I used for the setting of Bummer Camp. I want people to live inside this book and experience the magic of sleepaway camp. I want them to be the camp.”…

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More Jim

More Jim. Hi all. I have a lot of hot topics to tell you about, but it seems that what people really want is more Jim. Jim who? You ask? Jim is the man I’ve been dating after being single since 2010. People know about him because I went on a date with a different…

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I Saw My Smile Lines. He Saw My Smile

Modern Love

MODERN LOVE: He Wanted to Date Younger Women Which made me angry at him — and then at myself I published an essay in Madison Magazine about a meet-up where I asked my date, who was my age, 62, how online dating was going for him. Right to my face, with an open smile, he said…

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Good For Me

Good For Me

Good For Me This post went viral with 6 million, mostly nice views. It was a wild ride and if you didn’t read it, I thought you might like to. I am 62 years old, single, and recently, after watching “Love Actually” for the 17th time — toxic though it may be — I downloaded a dating app and…

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Can I be real a second?

Can I be real a second. I'm bad at vacatoning.

“Can I be real a second? For just a millisecond? Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?”      –George Washington in Hamilton. Hey people, here’s the truth for those of you on Instagram thinking my life is a series of naps, writing, and travel. I’m terrible at vacationing. Picture this:…

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I’m A Nice Lady, I Promise.

I promise I'm a nice lady but...

I’m a nice lady, I promise. Remember me? That nice lady whose email newsletter you signed up for and then stopped writing it. I promised an essay a month, book recommendations, writing and reading retreat announcements, and a few choice words about things that bug me because that’s what besties talk about. Not to be…

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Cinderella Under Pressure

Cinderella Under Pressure. I write books about women who do too much in a world that asks too much from them, and I saw one of these women just the other day. The woman I am thinking of was at a gas station, responding with incredible grace and dignity while under great duress. After filling…

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Are you haphazard too?

Are you haphazard too? I tend to be a little haphazard. Is it me, or can we blame it on the world we live in? I like to blame the culture for all my misremembering, overdrafts, and wrong turns. Otherwise, my free time is spent taking Alzheimer’s quizzes and asking my daughter if it’s time…

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Day Dream Believer

Ann Garvin 2004 Official Participant Number: #130 Title: Daydream Believer Word Count: 1,400   This was her last Friday night, Dog & Suds, Arf and Barf, dinner-and-a-movie special at the Drive All Night Drive-In. No more wiener jokes; “Hey Jen, can I ride my baloney barge into your bun?” Goodbye, dick heads trying to cop…

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