When my daughter woke up on the day which changed all of our lives, it started pretty much like every other day. She felt a bit dizzy. She checked her temperature, but she didn’t have a fever. Yet, as the day wore on, a strange novocain numbness began its terrifying creep up her left side. […]
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We make promises. We plan, envision, re-calibrate, and define goals. We look ahead and behind. We hope, determine, and anticipate. We look forward to a white page, a whole year ahead, without smudges. Not a single broken resolve. Yet. Years ago, my husband, myself, and our three little girls stood together with about fifty others, […]
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The slammed door echoed into the hallway and shocked the kitchen. Probably every teenager has managed a few. Ours did. And, although door slams were outlawed, the ugly secret was that I wished desperately to go into my own bedroom and slam its door with the same adolescent drama. I let out a sigh, and […]
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How many times have you said, “there’s just no end to this?” Paperwork, bills, middle of the night feedings, late at night work shifts, or maybe it’s simply the dirty pile of dishes in the sink. Predictably, the words reflect too much of one thing and not enough of another, meshed with a pinch of […]
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Mornings have always been a process for me, like pulling me out of a deep well where my feet are sucked by muddy weights of dreams. Greeting each new day takes time and a dose of courage often fortified by coffee. This morning through thick waking-up-soupiness, I reached for my phone and on its screen, […]
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“Oh Mom. God would be good if there was cancer,” she replied, sitting against the metal slatted headboard of the hospital bed. Her voice held that daughter to mother tone of reproof, and I pulled back from my embrace to find her, rather than exuberant, completely sober and in earnest. It took an entire week […]
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I love the Holidays. Always have. Hopefully always will. Yet, as seasons pass, new challenges arise and I find at times a sense of melancholy seeps into this time of year. I recognize how much I’ve looked forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas for distraction, a temporary reprieve, a pocket of “happy” in a world of […]
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It’s a crisp November day outside. Up until now the warmth of late summer has hung its hat on Virginia’s autumn. But, fall chill descended last night and the breezy gusts feel polar in comparison to our 80 degree highs of last week. “Be careful!” I warn my husband as I watch him nearly fall. […]
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It’s Wednesday morning. I am writing this blog five days before November 5. Election Day, 2024. Likely, a winner will have been decided when it pops up in your email or feed. Your world will either be rocked in a negative way or positive. You might be depressed and fearful, or perhaps hopeful and jubilant. […]
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It’s autumn. I’ve gotta admit that I am not a fan of fall. I see the beauty in the Virginia reds, yellows, and oranges. I love the floating leaves in the air. I like the sound of their crunch underfoot, and I enjoy a walk in the cooler outdoors. But I also know leaves turn […]
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