It is December 1st and against better judgment — I committed to publishing daily as part of NaBloPoMo — again. The theme this month is joy, a subject that actually does fascinate me, so if you are a regular here you can expect to hear a little more about it for the next 30 days. As it happens just […]
Losing Ellie
Losing Ellie, my husband’s mother, was one of the most difficult things our family has experienced. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared us for her unexpected loss of life. What I have found is emotions stay. They don’t remain at the surface the way dried blood does as a scab to the skin. No, emotional wounds are different. All that […]
I Never Expected to Grieve for My Mother
Lined up in the garage as if they are expecting us still are the dining room chairs of my youth. In all, there are five. Yet now, as if in a dream, I see eight. Eight wood chairs—each pushed under an antique table that, if you were not seated in the middle where the leaves […]
Write What Haunts You
“Write what haunts you, lest you spend your life amidst drivel. Write what you care most about, the beauty, the absurdity, and the sorrow of the world.”–Jane Resh Thomas In the quiet of an unoccupied room I exhaled the words I’d just read in a whisper… “Write what haunts you…” Had you asked me prior to […]
Attitude: Perspective Day 16
Noelle Pikus-Pace. Wow. Just wow. In the note she wrote to herself that read: “This is it. Don’t get scared now.” followed by a smiley face, Noelle Pikus-Pace set the stage for herself; smile–just smile. I doubt there is a soul alive who watched Noelle Pikus-Pace climb up over the rail and into the stands […]
Baking and Memory
Crouched down I retrieved the binder which is beyond bursting with recipes—some clipped from newspaper, some from magazines, while others were passed on. I knew what I was looking for when I flipped the tab marked “breads” to the side. Her long-hand penmanship came into view; involuntarily I sat on the cold tile beneath the […]
Folded, Hanging and Boxed: My Closet Life
Whenever I purge my closet, I always imagine the results will be long-lasting. I know I’m deluding myself, but indulging in the fantasy is cheap entertainment. There are articles of clothing which, no matter how long I keep them, still aren’t my style. They are only made more pathetic by the flimsy wire hangers […]
