“You know, Gramma, what might seem like garbage to one person, could be really important to someone else,” six-year old Ben with his big round sober blue eyes looked earnestly up at my mother. He was beautiful, full of innocence, and had a perchance for garbage. Clean-up week was my worst nightmare. Ben celebrated it.... Continue Reading →
Hands
I looked at my hands, wishing they were young, slender and beautiful like they were when I was young. The longer I looked; I began to think of my mother’s hands. They were so beautiful, even at the age of seventy-six. They were hands that loved me, hands that cared for family, home, and hearth... Continue Reading →
Comfort and Joy
"I just can't eat another bite." I tried coaxing, "You haven't even taken a first bite. Try a first bite.” I sat in the dining room at the facility where I worked, enjoying my Monday duty of assisting some residents with their noon meal. It was often a welcome break from the other work I... Continue Reading →
I Still Believe
The excitement is building. The atmosphere is so charged with it, that it’s palpable. Change is coming. The entire landscape of the world changes when the American people elect a new president. “I voted,” the sticker reads. What does it mean? I did my part, exercised my right? It’s so much more than that. Casting... Continue Reading →
Alligator In The Dark
"Maxieee. Where are you?" There was a pause, and then a shushing sound." I listened carefully, trying to decipher where the "shh" had come from. It was only a matter of two more heartbeats, "I'm right here!" It wasn't fair, I suppose. No, it wasn't at all. Four-year-old Max could often be counted on to... Continue Reading →
Where Were We?
Life happens every day. There is no “with or without us.” It carries us along on its current whether we fight against it or simply relax and go with the flow. My mom was holding Emily’s tiny hand, palm up, studying it, and I knew what was going through her mind. She broke from her... Continue Reading →
This Ain’t Normal
"What are you doing up?" My husband, Lyle, stood in the doorway, having just gotten through with his night shift. It was 2:30 a.m. and I stood at the top of the stairs, laundry basked on my hip. "Baby this ain't normal." I knew what he said was true, and the absurdity of the scene... Continue Reading →
Driver’s Seat
I sat five-year old Emily on the hood of the car to tie her shoe, certain that my other three blonde heads and one brunette had exited the vehicle. As the car began to move, my eyes flew to the steering wheel to see the giant round blue eyes of my four year old, Ben... Continue Reading →
Millennial Brady Bunch
I've been unable to write for a very long time, fixated on one thing... the divorce. How can I write about something so monumental, and do it right? I will say what is lovely and good and sad and right. We married young, we had five kids within five years, we weren't college educated. We... Continue Reading →
Crystal Springs
My young husband and I stood beside our broken down station wagon, each holding an infant up for passers-by to see. We had four-month-old twins. Along with our infant twins, we were traveling with our three little girls, ages five, three, and two, as well. They have to see how desperately we need help. Surely... Continue Reading →
Love My Messy Life 