We are in the midst of Advent, which looks like lighting a candle each night before dinner and reading a short devotion from a kid-friendly book. Our oldest is now able to do the bulk of the reading which has added an incredible element to our evenings. Because she gets the spotlight for the reading, […]
You don’t have to be Thankful on Thanksgiving
by on November 27, 2019 Leave a Comment
Thursday is American Thanksgiving. It is a little late this year and people have used this an excuse to put up their Christmas trees and blare the holiday tunes. The schmultzy commercials have started and I may have already indulged in a Hallmark-esque movie or two. Spoiler Alert: The big city girl actually loves her […]
The Many Faces of Silence
by on January 29, 2019 Leave a Comment
There are many faces to Silence. The loud booming Silence of Loved Ones no longer here—their voice and presence deeply missed—can cause a reflective silence. Post-holidays, there is also the Toxic Silence. A silence that may continue all year for some, or only rear its ugly head at the holidays. That is the silence that […]
Nativity
by on December 23, 2018 Leave a Comment
Last night I stepped outside into the bracing cold to let the dog out one last time before bed. Already, the ground glinted with heavy frost. I breathed in sharply. My nostrils burned. Instinctively, I shoved my hands deeper into my coat pockets. I looked up and waited for my eyes to adjust to the […]
Labor of Pain, Labor of Love
by on December 16, 2018 1 Comment
I grew up Catholic. Not an Easter-and-Christmas Catholic. But an every-week-we-went-to-mass-and-my-great-grandmother-taught-us-the-rosary Catholic. We were Irish, loud, played bingo, had the priest over for dinner and I just assumed that everyone else lived the same way we did. I went to Catholic schools, wore the plaid skirts and knew the Stations of the Cross before I […]
