a prophetic voice-

Movie buffs, I have spent the past two Saturday afternoons viewing two absolutely delightful films. The first was "Quartet", Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut. I must agree with the author of a recent article in the AARP magazine: Dustin, why did you wait so long? Not only did this film present excellent acting and a wonderful story, but it was visually breathtaking and the soundtrack was amazing, filled as it was with classical music and operatic arias. The indomitable Maggie Smith was front-and-center, seeming to revel in the wisdom and beauty of her seventy-nine years, not trying to look like anything other than what she is- a lovely aging woman who wears her years- and wrinkles- with grace and aplomb. And Billy Connolly, Tom Courtenay and Pauline Collins rounded out a stellar cast which included numerous real-life musicians over the age of 70. Oh, yes, the film is about aging musicians living in an old-age home created especially for them in the English countryside.

These first two months of 2013 have taken me in unexpected directions, upon roads less traveled, filled with challenges and pitfalls and chasms both deep and wide. Who could have known that the first day of this new year would bring the rending of this mother's heart as I was forced to face my youngest son's addiction and tell him "no more"...no more living under my roof with all of his needs being met...no more being supported by a mother whose resources for her old age were being depleted before her eyes...no more enabling and excusing in the name of being a "good mother". No more. And so, after two nights on the street in the January cold, he asked for help and I took him to the local shelter, where he could safely sleep and be fed and apply for their substance abuse program. As he turned to the resources of AA, I turned to those of Al-Anon, finding there a mirror in which I could see myself more clearly and honestly, a "family" of sorts where