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Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
May 30, 20214 min read
Loving Aunt Wilma: Everyday Magic, Day 1038
Sunday evening, we sat on our back deck around an outdoor table and a wedding gift from Aunt Wilma and Uncle Ron 36-plus years ago, a...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 29, 20219 min read
A Love Letter to Shay: For the Love of a Dog: Everyday Magic, Day 1034
Y ou just showed up one winter day, nose to nose with our labmatian (lab-dalmatian) Mariah, only the glass of the screen door between...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 16, 20213 min read
In Praise of Goody: Everyday Magic, Day 1032
“The world will never be the same,” Ken told me right after Goody Garfield’s burial service. “We were witness to one of a kind, and...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 5, 20212 min read
Life (and Tinnitus) in the Key of G: Everyday Magic, Day 1030
Last night, I found that my tinnitus buzzes and hums in the key of G. How did I find this? By singing in key with the tinnitus while...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jul 18, 20203 min read
We’re Just Passing Through the Fire Swamp: Everyday Magic, Day 1011
The fire swamp in The Princess Bride has at least three known dangers, but at first Westley (played by Carey Elwes) mistakenly believes...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jun 1, 20202 min read
Breathe In Peace, Breathe Out Love: Everyday Magic, Day 1008
I thought a global pandemic was enough: enough pain, suffering, fear, restriction, uncertainty, and dread. Turns out I was wrong. We now...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
May 24, 20203 min read
The Peonies Where a Tornado, Cancer Diagnosis, and Pandemic Meet: Everyday Magic, Day 1007
As I watch the Pendleton’s peonies I just bought rush from tight little balls to full-throttle fireworks of blossoms, I keep thinking of...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Apr 29, 20205 min read
Cancer Anniversary: From a Personal Pandemic to a Global One: Everyday Magic, Day 1005
A year ago today, pacing an empty parking lot, I cried so hard on the phone with my friend Kelley that it was hard to get the words out:...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Aug 28, 20193 min read
The World is On Fire: Everyday Magic, Day 983
For the last three weeks, the Amazon burns, and just today, according to The New York Times, more than 500 Brazilian government employees...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 15, 20192 min read
Blown Away: Everyday Magic, Day 968
The week began with news that blew me away: a beloved colleague, who was the rock and heart of the college where I work, died suddenly....
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Dec 3, 20182 min read
Grief is Not What We Think It Is: Everyday Magic, Day 958
V ery little in life is what we think it is, especially grief. In the three weeks since my mother-in-law died, I’ve ridden a pack of...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Nov 18, 20182 min read
Alice: Praising My Mother-in-Law: Everyday Magic, Day 957
After crowd-sourcing some of the details for this poem from her children (including my husband), here’s what I wrote for the woman who...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Nov 3, 20174 min read
Loving Uncle Ron: Everyday Magic, Day 914
It started with gerunds, a grammatical term for verbs that end in “ing.” To write directly and precisely, writers are supposed to avoid...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jul 1, 20173 min read
The Everyday Miracle of Rainbows: Everyday Magic, Day 904
Why I didn’t see a rainbow until I was 12 was because I wasn’t looking, not having imagined rainbows were possible in real life. Growing...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 3, 20172 min read
The Patron Saint of Just-Being Returns the Music: Everyday Magic, Day 892
In the two-plus years since our dear friend Jerry died, I’ve occasionally resumed my search for my Ipod mini, a little music player I...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Dec 29, 20161 min read
Remembering Aaron: Everyday Magic, Day 884
One of Our Own He’s one of our own: a golden-limbed boy, one hand on his hip, the other holding an ornate box turtle, his open face...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Dec 9, 20162 min read
Beyond the Dark Tunnel of Mid-December: Everyday Magic, Day 881
As a kid, I dreaded the stretch between New Jersey and New York City when our family station wagon would descend into the underworld,...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Oct 15, 20161 min read
A Beautiful Moment in a Time of Despair: Everyday Magic, Day 876
As I turn away from the news of collapsing politics and ecology, I also see this: the sky to the west is filling with clouds, the wind is...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Oct 8, 201621 min read
Surviving with Gumption & Grace: Everyday Magic, Day 875
Days of Caring event in Hays, Kansas — a luncheon and fashion show to raise awareness about breast cancer. Here’s the talk I gave,...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jun 19, 20163 min read
Bringing Charles Home: Everyday Magic, Day 863
It was one of those Kansas days when any moment of daylight would be heavy with heat and humidity although a 9 a.m. burial was more like...