Writings by Diane

As the days grow closer to my wedding anniversary, my husband is asking what present do I want? This question turned my thinking to one of the best presents I received from him. We had met over 20 years ago and on one of our first dates, he asked me how my parents came up with my name?. This question had a "getting to know you" feel to it. He had mentioned he was named after his father's friend, a fellow Marine who had died in combat. I sheepishly shared that my name wasn't as poignant as his history behind his name. My parents had come from a long standing tradition of naming the young after relatives.  When I was born, they may have wanted to make a change, because I was named after a song they liked. He had never heard of a song that was named Diane, so I sang (read warbled) a few of the lyrics. A few dates later, he surprised me with a mix tape, a cassette tape with recorded songs.  (In those days, there was no Pandora  on your phone, you had to buy the album or...

One of my favorite things to do is watch CBS's Sunday Morning . I wake up before everyone else, brew my coffee and sit down to watch inspiring and uplifting stories. Sure, the program does begin with around the world headlines. However, I'm in the kitchen brewing my coffee, so I miss the latest depressing updates. A  few months back, I was watching a story was about the singer Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. He still had the lion's mane of hair, but now it were of a snowy white color. The interviewer set up the scene with the announcement that he was the last surviving member of the Bee Gees and was embarking on his first solo tour. Yikes! Throughout the show, clips of his brothers were shown. There they were, young and handsome, performing their famous songs or still shots: scenes of Andy with his guitar, The Bee Gees (Barry, Maurice and Robin) the screen in black and white performing  as youths. Then, it switched to color as " You Should be Dancing " was perform...