If I were eleven, I would smell like sweat and sunscreen. I would live in a neighborhood with a windy road and a hill so I could ride my bike, the blue one with the peeling sticker, and never get bored. My bike would have a broken kickstand. I’d have to lay it near the…
A boy lost his father when he was a child. To work, compromise, and a dash of selfish. The boy cried. A young man lost his father when he was struggling. To indifference, distraction, and lies. The young man yelled. A man lost his father unexpectedly. To the invisible, the invasive, and neglect. The man…
Roses are blooming in my front yard— dozens of them. I have never had a rosebush, much less a whole yard full. My experience with roses stops at a vase. And while they are lovely, when we first moved in, I decided I was not a rose person. I know that’s ridiculous, but sometimes I…
How lucky I am to have had something that makes saying goodbye so hard. – Winnie the Pooh After twelve years together, we put our cat to sleep before he withered away in pain he didn’t understand and we couldn’t heal. Clifford annoyed the crap out of me. He had too much hair and was…
Our peach, plum, and apricot trees survived their second summer. The green of their leaves is battling it out with the encroaching brown, and the cutter moths have done some damage, but the trees have officially made it. They are growing, alive, and in a few weeks, they will thrive, insects and triple-digit temperatures at bay.…
Seven months. Articles and books talk about this “transition,” from raising children to parenting around the edges, but it seems to be different for everyone. Every child. When my first daughter went off to make her own life, I was a bit lost, and my heart ached, but I was raising two other people. Distraction…
I learn things about myself and my world every day I lift my head from the pillow. Every day. But when I travel I am moved in ways good and bad that elevate my journey. I’ve returned from Amsterdam and here is what I have learned. I prefer the country to the city. I used…
Changing habits and challenging established expectations is stressful stuff, but this is my year. All the wrapping will be recycled or reusable, and all of my gifts will be local or handmade by small shops via Etsy. I will not purchase one gift from a big store. This year and every year after, I am doing…
I don’t think my daughter ever played dress-up. She had some gypsy stuff and leftover Halloween costume props that would surface as perfectly acceptable school accessories, but she never walked around in my heels or wanted to wear my work clothes. Now I know why. Katlyn is my oldest and today she turns twenty-three.…