It’s quarter to one in the morning on the second day of a new year and I’m too restless to sleep. I’ve been staring at my computer for three hours, give or take, minus a ten minute attempt to fall asleep alongside Vinnie. The program… Read More
Standing beneath the spotlights on our small church stage, we practiced the songs for service this morning. Looking down, the words on the music stand blurred. No, not blurred, not exactly. It was as if the lights were too bright, the writing too soft, or… Read More
It’s 9:30 on a summer morning and I have wandered in and out of my kitchen no less than four times. I’m puttering, really. Lifting cereal bowls and dumping the residual milk down the drain. Brushing Cheerios dust from the counter top. Looking out the… Read More
At least a couple times a week, I’ll walk to the grocery store. It’s not that impressive, really. It’s about four miles, round trip, (though the return trip – with heavy bags slung over my shoulders, bumping against my sides – always feels like five). I get… Read More
Strong: adjective 1) having the power to move heavy weights or perform other difficult tasks 2) able to withstand great force or pressure I watched Wild last night. It’s the sort of wanderlust, go off somewhere by yourself for months on end and have a… Read More
It’s an old story, stop me if you’ve heard it before. Two thirty-something moms stop for a drink on their way home from grocery shopping on a winter’s eve. They sit at the bar, at the only available seats, and are chatted up by an… Read More
In the kitchen, Evaline is laying on a flattened cardboard box on the floor with a marker-doodled, naked, baby doll. She murmurs excitedly and I catch a word here or there as I stand by the sink, stirring my coffee. Look, my castle! I love my sister. Oh,… Read More
It’s eight in the morning and the dishes from taco night are still piled in the sink. I skate across a pond of spilled orange juice. I see Evaline, dressed as Belle and clenching a fistful of juice-drenched tissues. The kids had a sleepover last night… Read More
My daughter sat beside me as I downloaded the files. My daughter who has seen me work before, watched as I’ve opened images, filtered through the rows of happy faces, of brides stepping into their wedding gowns, of pristine couples standing at alters, in gardens,… Read More
I think somewhere in the far (very far) recesses of my mind, where things are neat and organized, I had a vision of doing school at home in an, at least somewhat, organized manner. I pictured specific hours, specific daily routines, life on a schedule.… Read More
