I RESOLVE…..
The last print issue of Glamour (January 2019) is on the newsstands.
One of my earliest listicles, “31 Things I’m Not Going to do Wrong in 1979,” was published in Glamour’s January 1979 issue. Below are 19 of those resolutions I wrote 40 years ago for that Glamour piece. They include several about Cindy, my close, loving friend for 59 years. She died last week. I am writing an entire blog about her which I’ll post next week, although words will never do justice to how she showed up for me and how much I am thinking about her.
Cindy will remain at the core of my heart forever.
Take a vacation from my guilt.
Do not spend another New Year’s Eve at Janie Bachman’s house unless she has something more chocolaty to snack on than apples.
Continue writing for Glamour, The New York Times, Parents, Redbook, Learning and other newspapers and magazines where my work is published.
Pitch to new publications.
Do not wallow in self-pity with rejection slips.
Remember: they are part of the deal. The writers I admire most have plenty.
Do not gossip.
# 7 is ridiculous. Do not gossip with anyone but Cindy. She knows more and talks faster than my other friends.
At restaurants, do not refuse desert and then eat half of everyone else’s.
Be nice to all relatives including Cousin Sharon, who invariably lets me know whenever I buy anything from a cantaloupe to a kitchen table where I could have gotten it for half the price.
And nice to Cousin Arlene, who looks at me, studies me, makes a little face, the kind the principal might make, and asks, “Is THAT REALLY how you want to wear your hair?”
Remember: some people say silly, silly things.
Recognize there are certain things about certain people that will never change even though I wish they would.
Recognize there are certain things about certain people that will never change and never should.
Try to open wine without getting cork particles in the bottle.
Maybe just stick to vodka.
Eliminate talking on the phone from my daily routine.
#17 is impossible. Eliminate 10 minutes of the hour I talk each night to Cindy.
Put these resolutions in my top desk drawer to use again in 1980.
