Take a Right at the Llama

I pull a faded black suitcase, it’s wheels rumble over the sidewalk, a grey path between verdant green. The rhythm of smooth concrete broken by lines reminds me of the clickety-clack of a train moving down its tracks. “Take a right at the llama.” There they are, two hairy mowers in action, keeping the hotel’s […]

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Five Things to Repeat on November 9

I am writing this one week before the American election. I figure I will need to read it to myself after the election. Several times. Repeat after me. And the prize goes to… Romans 13:1-2 (NASB) “…For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” I’m a citizen […]

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Sfoons, forks and miracles

“Thank you for the sghetti,” my daughter prayed. Her little fingers entwined into a ball were folded against the edge of the kitchen table. Her forehead puckered and her eyes squinted. Through narrow open slits she spied the set table in front of her. “Thank you for the plate.” Her cheeks twitched from the concentrated […]

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The Good Life, Arrogance and Audacity

“For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Ps. 73:3 (NKJV). Asaph, King David’s talented musician had issues. He agonized over life’s inequality and unfairness and fell prey to a common problem. Comparison. I have measured my worth by everything from Facebook likes to cellulite. Maybe that’s why […]

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Are You Listening?

Hot tiny hands warm both sides of my cheeks, smooth and just a little bit forceful. They pull my face upward from where I sit engrossed in my screen so our eyes are even. Hers, translucent blue like a sun-glinting lake, bright and sparkling, search intently. “Lift your face up and look at me,” she […]

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Paralytically Speaking

If people would ask me how I feel about the event of my daughter’s paralyzation nine years ago, I might want to say a lot of things. One is that it makes me sad in waves of sorrow. Periods of time the waves are calm, others tempestuous. I am sorry I am sad. I feel […]

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Politics and the Real Life

I confess. I yell at the TV. I’ve even thrown a pillow or two. Watching media news at our house looks much the same as watching a football game, albeit a very depressing one. Why watch you ask? It draws me like a mosquito to the zapper. I can’t help it. I react like a […]

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Invisible Me

She knelt by the bed as if in prayer, the soles of her pajama footies upturned, her little body in plain sight. A blanket covered her head. In two-year-old logic, if she couldn’t see me, I couldn’t see her. I called out in sing-song question, “Where is Amee?” She quivered, excitement boiled inside her, invisible […]

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Perspectives

My perspective has been askew recently, I think. The airplane dips its wing to the right in a slow descent arc above Genoa, Italy. I lean forward and gaze through a tiny oblong window. Below a thick white outline divides where waves and shore meet. A sail bobs. A ship glides like silk. Red tile […]

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Put It On Pause

My family drives one another crazy with the pause button on the TV remote. We pause to go to the bathroom, we pause to get something to eat, and we pause because someone didn’t catch on and we have to rehash what happened. The more family we have around, the longer it takes to watch […]

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