It hits my life again. That inevitable desire to connect my circumstances with the actions of another and search for blame. “That woman you gave me,” Adam complained when confronted with his sin. And the woman, “It was the snake for goodness sake.” It’s like an ugly cord woven through the heart of humanity. It’s […]
Continue Reading
I walked around the room with a rubber duck in my hand. I laid it in plain sight on a shelf of the book case. It’s classic yellow face and orange bill pointed to the door where my daughter would skip through in a few seconds. I smiled in anticipation. “Heidi,” I called, “Come find […]
Continue Reading
I’m not a good lover. Let me pause before you think I just handed you more information than you care to receive, like a bad Facebook post. Here is what I mean: I don’t know how to love like Christ loved. I simply can’t reach it. I know this because.. Read the rest of the […]
Continue Reading
We are celebrating forty-three years of marriage. All you math people stop it. Just stop. It is a long time, that’s the point. I have spent forty-three years trying to figure out that “man that God gave me.” I do not think the same way he does. We see things differently. His reactions contrast mine […]
Continue Reading
So, we are in the “path of totality,” dead center for the total eclipse of the sun. It’s a little crazy. Major interstates are closing, people are camping out, hotels are full, and businesses are gearing up for a once in a lifetime opportunity to cash in. The whole idea of daylight sky-darkening-burning-brilliance brings unmatched […]
Continue Reading
From the back seat window the countryside slid by. Green grape vines draped across wooden stakes like outstretched arms. The road ahead curved to the left, I knew it well. A hen, halted mid-stride before crossing into our path, her wings flapped, her jerky movements paused, and she clucked a warning in Italian. Everything was […]
Continue Reading
I watch my grandson knee high as he bumps from one trousered pair of legs to another across the crowded room. His vision fills with legs knee high. Unless he looks up, they are like a forest without faces. And then I see him wrap his little arms around a pair and squeeze. I watch […]
Continue Reading
The seconds tick at the cash register. We shake out our Italian, like a moth-eaten shirt, and blink away the fog of jet-lag. Everything is a de-j-vu of having been and done long ago. Phil rifles through his wallet, the cashier waits. A seed of uncomfortable turns into embarrassment. When the opportunity came to spend […]
Continue Reading
After three daughters, it was only natural that our youngest son should have four mothers. I just wasn’t expecting how tight those sibling-mommy bonds could be. When one of them forgot to shut the stair gate, I heard the thud of him hitting each step like it was my own body falling. I was the […]
Continue Reading
There is a sudden ache in my gut, like I’ve been kicked. As much as I prepare for hospital-sterile, IV’s and blinking lights, the moment I enter my daughter’s room I cannot stop the sudden intake of breath. I pause, the dread in my stomach stops my heart for a second, and I wait till […]
Continue Reading