Archive for January 2017

Helping a student find college scholarships

A post about college applications in a blog with “retired” in the title? According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, grandparents and parents make up the fastest-growing segment of student loan borrowers. Three-quarters of these borrowers are helping out children and grandchildren, and the other quarter are borrowing for their own or spouses’ studies. If... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 31, 2017 at 7:39 am
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After the march

After the march
What an exhilarating day Saturday was. After 10½ weeks of postelection shock, sadness, and despair, the Women’s March on Chicago left me feeling hopeful again. Grant Park was so jammed my five friends and I, perched on Columbus Drive just north of Congress, never figured out where the speakers’ platform was. I couldn’t hear every... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 23, 2017 at 11:07 am
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Dear Donald

Dear Donald, My supporters on the left think I’ve been foolish to be gracious during the transition. They say it’s naive to give you the benefit of the doubt. Since the election I too have wondered whether I’m naive. Do you remember that after we met at the White House, I said: “However you campaigned, once... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 20, 2017 at 9:08 am
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Lessons in friendship for adults

Googling “lessons in friendship” returns a lot of advice about teaching children how to be friends. Seems we’re supposed to have friendship figured out by the time we’re adults — certainly by my age. I realized I’m still learning when two of my long-time friendships recently experienced rough patches. One friend and I are back... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 18, 2017 at 7:29 am
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Barbara Pym, the writer most like Jane Austen

Jane Austen would have appreciated an acerbic comment I remember reading, something along the lines of “Any woman who can write grammatically is compared with Jane Austen.” Most Janeites would agree that there really isn’t anyone who writes like Jane Austen. But nevertheless we keep searching because there are only so many times we can reread... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 11, 2017 at 10:38 am
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Learning from the laid-back example of a long-ago friend

“You sound the same,” a friend I haven’t seen or spoken with in a quarter of a century said. “You, too,” I replied. We’ve exchanged Christmas greetings and occasional emails during that time, but no more. Instead of enclosing a letter in this year’s Christmas card, John wrote, “I want to call you. Let’s set... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 3, 2017 at 8:35 am
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