You would have been 85 today. Eighty-five. It is so hard for me to fathom, because you are frozen in time for me. I think about you and picture someone in decent health, quick and strong, handsome and deeply tanned from working outside. I never picture you the way you were just before you died. … More Never Change
Originally published March 30, 2017 in response to the last attack on American healthcare and the Syrian refugee crisis. Last week as I absentmindedly scrolled through Facebook the way we do, I saw a story on Scary Mommy called “What if it Were My Baby? The Importance of Putting Ourselves in Another Mother’s Shoes.” I skipped … More The Story
“The weatherman says it’s miserable, but the snow is so beautiful….” Indeed, snow would be an improvement on the view out my window this morning. The gray sky is alternating between spitting tiny drops of water and raining so hard the sound on the roof is deafening. With the lights off, it could be late … More Day 6: Joy
“I cried when I wrote this, I’ll always remember….” I was helping my daughter put away some new clothes today. She has had the same dresser and armoire since she was born, and back when her clothes were smaller and took up less space, I claimed the top two drawers for some stuff that needed … More Day 4: Heartbreak
When I was around five years old my mom and I went to Disney World with her best friend, whose son was a year younger than I was. Presumably it was before the age of height and age requirements on amusement park rides, because I have a single memory of that trip, and it is … More Day 3: Light
Originally published at Our Words Collaborative “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” -Matthew 11:35 NLT My husband is a die hard fan of his undergraduate university, a school in our state with a national reputation of excellence in several areas of study and an athletic … More Will they know YOU?
“You’re beautiful, but you’re empty…One couldn’t die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass, since she’s the one … More Since she’s my rose
Apparently today is National Poetry Day? I thought April was all about the poetry, but Twitter says it is National Poetry Day, so it must be true. I’m working on so many unfinished drafts of not poetry, but here’s a poem I wrote about my grandma Norma Jean 15 years ago (FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, WHAT?). … More Southern Comfort
When I was a little kid I used to sit for hours in my mom’s old bedroom in my grandparents’ house, at the foot of a dresser that is now in my own guest room, and look at old pictures. The bottom two drawers of that dresser were full to overflowing with photographs, and I … More Magic
(Originally posted at Our Words Collaborative on July 8, 2016) One of the most powerful sermons I’ve ever heard was at a Christmas Eve service a few years ago, delivered by the lead pastor of the large community church we used to attend. He always nails the Advent story, bringing new life and different angles … More On the fourth day
one small corner of the universe 