The Resolute Woman

Category: friends

  • Practice “mindful” listening

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    resolutewoman
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    Do you ever find yourself thinking about the trip you’re planning when you’re supposed to be listening to a friend? That happened to me recently. The next time I find my mind wandering when I supposed to be paying attention, I’m going to remember the advice of Pamela Cooper, a professor at the University of…

  • Listening can be more helpful

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    resolutewoman
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    Ranna, Fayteen’s daughter, still has major health problems. My brother-in-law continues to get weaker, so weak that he can’t walk by himself. A neighbor’s father died suddenly. What do you say? Listening is often more helpful than talking, advises Susan Silke, a clinical psychologist, and Barry Goldman, an arbitrator and mediator, in the April 14,…

  • Everything you need to know about love

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    resolutewoman
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    I found the book called Everything I Need to Know about Love I Learned from a Little Golden Book by Diane Muldrow on a table with other books for Valentine’s gifts at Barnes & Nobles. One page featured an illustration of Little Red Riding Hood. “Of course, there are a lot of wolves out there,”…

  • A friend who takes action

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    resolutewoman
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    I showed up at church one Sunday recently in pain. The night before, I had slipped in the kitchen and hit my foot—hard—against a chair. When I woke up Sunday morning, my foot was blue and my little toe was swollen. I gingerly put on the pair of shoes that I thought would hurt the…

  • A friend who listens

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    resolutewoman
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    One day recently, the week before my daughter Ranna had surgery, I was feeling stressful. I had promised Ranna that I would go with her to a doctor’s appointment. I was trying to get caught up with everything so that I could take care of Ranna while she recuperated from surgery. And, I was supposed…

  • Like a wall?

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    resolutewoman
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    Harold misses his wife, Maureen, even though they had lived together for years in silence, never talking, never relating. “He and Maureen could pass hours without saying a word, but her presence was like a wall that you expected to be there, even if you didn’t often look at it,” writes Rachel Joyce in her…

  • A lesson relearned—Tell the truth!

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    resolutewoman
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    I almost got myself in a jam this year. I told a little lie with good intentions when I thought I was protecting a friend from something unpleasant. However, as I already knew and I should have remembered before I opened my mouth, even telling a tiny lie can make life complicated. But, it seems…

  • We’re thankful for friends

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    resolutewoman
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    I’ve known Fayteen for 25 years—and I’ve known her daughter, Ranna, for almost as long. Once, earlier this year, Ranna thanked me for visiting her when she was ill. “Ranna,” I told her, “I consider you to be a good friend—a good friend who has become part of my family.” This Thanksgiving, I am thankful…

  • Thanks for animal friends

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    resolutewoman
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    I just read a good dog book—the heartwarming story about Haatchi and Little B. Haatchi is a big dog—an Anatolian shepherd—that was abused and then left for dead on railroad tracks. Little B., whose real name is Owen, is a boy who lives in England and has a rare genetic disorder. He had become anxious…

  • Phone calls with friends

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    resolutewoman
    in

    I have had some lovely, leisurely phone conversations with friends recently. These are friends that I usually send email messages to, but I have been having major issues with my email—problems too frustrating and complicated to explain. As a result, I have had to communicate with phone calls. I’m happy that my email is working…