Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 11 Finding My Way Back to a Significant Place. By Carrie McConkey My Sister in Curls and fashion informant Laura Cope recommended I watch the movie Halston on Amazon Prime a couple of years ago. …

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 10 I’ve discovered a second generation of sisterhood among the daughters of women I hold dear. By Carrie McConkey In my early forties, I let go of my ambivalence toward having kids. The questions had slowed regarding when John and I were going to start a family, and he and I…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 9 Smoothing out my feelings about having curly hair. By Carrie McConkey I’m certain I was born with the wrong hair texture. As God’s all-knowing finger was heading for the “STRAIGHT” hair button, I’m convinced a clumsy angel tripped over her harp, causing Him to accidentally stab “CURLY”. (”Whoops!” He must…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 8 Facing planned and unplanned stressors against the backdrop of COVID, I’m turning to a once-beloved hobby for relief. By Carrie McConkey I’ve been crying a lot lately. My husband John and I have lost several loved ones in recent months, and I’m still recovering from elective foot surgery. The grief…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 7 Tips and advice for a surgery brought on by style. By Carrie McConkey Bunion. I hate the word. I’d always associated a bunion with a wart — an unwanted growth. And no one wants an unwanted growth. But somewhere along my life’s journey I developed hallux valgus — a bunion…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 6 A childhood in the seventies and eighties provided opportunities for creativity and love. By Carrie McConkey My husband John leaned over our kitchen counter, hands pressed on either side of my November Decade N° 5 blog draft. “What do you think?” I asked, ”Does it make sense?” “Yeah, but it’s…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 5 The anniversary of a traumatic event on Thanksgiving Day supplies an opportunity for gratitude and a life check-in. By Carrie McConkey Two years ago on Thanksgiving Eve I hurriedly scooped sweet potato casserole into a Pyrex dish and slid it onto the refrigerator shelf. The reason for my rush: I…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 4 COVID and turning fifty helped me let go of an exercise regimen that no longer fit. By Carrie McConkey “That’s the house where I was playing with my friends and climbed up on the roof and fell off. I was knocked out, but only for a second.” My new husband…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 3 As a highly expressive person, I’ve struggled with mask wearing during the Pandemic. By Carrie McConkey I sat perched on the corner of my favorite vintage wingback chair, leaving a voicemail for a therapist I’d seen several years before. Despite my efforts to sound poised, my voice began rising as…