Liz Kurkjian-Henry

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Forging an Adult Relationship with my Daughter

‘She’s such a bitch.’             ‘Everything I say annoys her.’             ‘Nothing I do is right.’             ‘She’s only nice to me when she needs money.’             ‘What happened to my sweet little girl?’ Do these laments sound familiar?  They do to me because at some point since my daughter, Britt, went to college, graduated and  moved to New York City  I have uttered each one. But over the past twelve years I have found myself lamenting less and enjoying her more. Why? Did she change? Or did I? A bit of both but weighted much more heavily on me.  I’m not sure if it was a conscious decision but I think this complaining about my adult daughter diminished when I started to view her for what she is in that order: ADULT then DAUGHTER. Once I changed my perspective to treat her as an adult first, my daughter second, our relationship became much less strained and tenuous. ...
Loud and Proud

Loud and Proud

My teachers consistently wrote Elizabeth could try harder, Elizabeth is too social, Elizabeth is very smart but she talks too much on my report cards causing my parents much anxiety and disappointment. So I would try harder, for a while, but I always lapsed back  into my pursuit of the latest celebrity gossip in Beat, the latest makeup/hair trends in Seventeen or Mademoiselle so I could discuss them, opine on them (opinions- I always had a LOT of them) and ultimately find the funny or absurd in them and my life at fourteen so I could make people laugh. ...

Am I a Karen?

We’ve finished up our errands; returning library books, checking out a couple of new ones, browsing through Marshalls and Homegoods. It’s 4:30 but we’re getting a little hungry and this lady does not feel like cooking. We stop at The Good Pour, a small pub a couple of towns over from ours. We haven’t been here since the pandemic but it always had good food and we’re close by so why not. As is our wont when it’s just the two of us, we sit at the small bar. Both televisions are turned to sports channels (what else is new? Would it ever hurt to put on Food Network or HGTV?...
Pink boots

This Time I’m Not Hiding My Purchase From My Husband

“Is that new?” he asks as I don my ‘just-clipped-off-the tags shirt/sweater/shoes. “No. I’ve had it awhile just never wore it before.” “Hmm.” Today though the jig is up. I’ve got to admit the truth. My husband Jack is not cheap. He is a generous tipper, the first to pick up a tab. But, he despises waste and extravagance and has never been able to wrap his head around his wife’s love of clothes and shoes. We’ve made the marriage work for almost forty years but lately he’s become more vocal about my purchases....
BA50 Bloggers Writing Retreat

Covid Rears Its Ugly Head Once Again

I truly thought we were done. I foolishly thought we were done. After being vaccinated and boostered I felt like I had a shield around me. But then I went on a two-night retreat sharing a house and meals and lots of glorious writing and even more glorious laughter with seven other vaxxed women.  (Our BA50 Writers Blogging Group). It felt so good and so back-to-normal again… until it wasn’t....
TV Remote

My TV Remote Misery: WTF

Last month for my birthday we got the Samsung Frame tv whose main selling point is, when off, displays different pieces of art work and/or selected pictures from your phone. “Can I get network television?” “Yes,” promised the sales rep. “Do I need a Firestick or Roku?” “Nope. All built in.” And thus began Liz’s latest foray into techno-world. The Geek Squad guys came out and installed it. Gave me a two-hour tutorial. I wrote everything in a notebook. When they left I felt pretty confident I had a handle on this and started to play around with it....
Liz Kurkjian-Henry

Liz Kurkjian-Henry

Liz is a retired Teacher of the Deaf living her Chapter 3 best life by the sea in Niantic, CT,writing, watching Bravo and being a GG.