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AUTHOR | SPEAKER
Dr. Lise Deguire
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Angels who leave Christmas trees
When I was four years old, an angel left me my very own Christmas tree. I lay on a soft twin bed, tucked in the corner of a wood-paneled...
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Life at an Artists' Residency, (Which is and isn't just like Camp)
Yesterday I sat down mid-afternoon, under a robin’s egg blue sky, gazing at the treetops beginning to turn yellow and red. I picked up my...
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Try Swiping Right
I saw an old friend last weekend (name and info changed.) Mary is a social worker, a few years older than I, smart and witty, quietly...
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Searching for "The Roses Man"
I met “The Roses Man” when I was 5 or 6 years old, attending Franklin Elementary School in East Orange, New Jersey. I was freshly...
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How the Witch Became a Model
When I was five, my heaven was a tiny dusty theater at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey. My father taught music history there....
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Tracy Chapman Trounced Me but It's OK
I was a senior at Tufts University when I entered a competition with an improbable band comprised of the Rabbi, the Dean, and two other...
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Winning the Worst Award
Picture me at 22 years old, bright eyed with big hair and a big smile to match. I strode the campus of my college, Tufts University, with...
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Darkness Descends; An Ode to Joy
It crept in like a low fog, so lightly that I didn’t notice it beginning to swirl around me. A vague unease, a weighty sigh. The sun...
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The everyday grief of an "obsolete" mom
What is the reward of being a good mother to a blessedly healthy child? They leave you. How could it all be gone? Where did it go?
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"I was just lucky:" Women, please stop saying these words
Are you trying to raise a strong daughter? Are you trying to be a strong woman? How we talk about our successes is so important.
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My Worst Fear: Public Speaking (to Nobody)
What do you do when your worst fear actually happens?
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How This Grinch Forgave Her Mother (Mostly)
“Have you forgiven your mother?” Oddly, this gut-wrenching, intensely personal question follows me wherever I go. I am a psychologist and...
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Dreams Past; Goals Ahead
“A goal is a dream with its work boots on. A goal is a dream you’ve decided to make real.” Rachel Hollis. I turned 60 last month....
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The Problem with "Women Talking"
Sarah Polley’s Women Talking is a beautiful ensemble piece, in which women gather to discuss how to handle a violent crisis. The...
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Disfigurement: A Call for Awareness
(republished, with permission, from the Pennsylvania Psychologist) When I was four years old, I survived a fire which burned away my...
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How NOT to Turn Into your Parents
My grandmother “Memere” sang every morning as she opened her lace curtains, welcoming the sun into the bedroom we shared. Her chirping...
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Christmas Angels Among Us
When I was four years old, an angel left me my very own Christmas tree. I lay on a soft twin bed, tucked in the corner of a wood-paneled...
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I Refuse to Participate in this Nonsense
“Rat-a-tat tat, rat-a-tat tat, rat-a-tat tat,” An ancient cassette slowly spun in a tape player, miraculously still functioning. “Rat-tat...
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Your Accidental Activist
Somehow, I have become an activist. This was never my intent. All I ever planned was to write my memoir. I did not intend to be a public...
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Marc's Anniversary Visit
Every October, the light changes, the sun hanging lower in the sky. Every October, the leaves flash to orange, yellow and red, and drift...
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