July 31, 2011

Hey, GQ, mocking the disabled simply isn't fashionable

July 31, 2011/ Beverly Beckham

On July 15, the magazine GQ proclaimed on its website that the people of Boston are the worst dressed in the country.

This should have been a lighthearted summer story, raising ire and eyebrows, but with a wink, too. We're just teasing, Boston. We just want you and everyone else to read our magazine!

But what was silly turned serious when writer John B. Thompson, in a poor attempt at humor, penned these words: ``Due to so much local inbreeding, Boston suffers from a kind of Style Down Syndrome, where a little extra ends up ruining everything.''

July 20, 2011

Why We Play - Patience is the most important rule, in cards as well as grandparenting

July 20, 2011/ Beverly Beckham

Adam is seven and Charlotte just turned four. Last week, for the first time, the three of us played War.

Adam's an old hand at the game. He knows that a Queen beats a Jack and a King beats a Queen and that triple war is so much fun. War, for him, is a piece of cake…

July 17, 2011

Lessons from a neglected garden

July 17, 2011/ Beverly Beckham

I haven't tended my garden this year. Spring came and went and because it was always raining, I didn't prune or weed or mulch. Summer followed spring, and the rain stopped, but still I didn't go in search of my gardening gloves.

A few weeks ago, only because we were having house guests, I grabbed my favorite spade, my trusty hoe, and some well-worn clippers and went to work hacking away at overgrown bushes and at a weed/vine tenacious thing that every year tries to strangle whatever else is in bloom. I yanked and pulled and…

July 13, 2011

How Do They Grow Up So Fast?

July 13, 2011/ Beverly Beckham

I used to see my grandson Adam every day. When he was less than a month old, he and his parents moved from their tiny New York City apartment back to the suburbs, and while they were house hunting, they lived with my husband and me…

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