Here’s the truth—I cry way too easily. Whenever I am emotionally invested in anything, the tears are never far away. This has been true for me as long as I can remember and it has taken me a long lifetime to learn that these tears are a gift. In truth, they are among the most […]
Out Here on the Brink of Eternity
by on September 20, 2018 38 Comments
It’s lonelier than I imagined, this aging thing. I remember being impatient with my dad when we pushed my parents to move from their much-loved last home, built 15 years earlier, into a retirement community a little bit closer to us. He was suffering from Parkinson’s and atherosclerosis and my mom was wearing herself out […]
Failure to Thrive
by on September 13, 2018 20 Comments
How long do we need to live somewhere before it feels like home? A year? Two years? Ten? It’s been three years since we relocated from Chicago to Colorado and my husband and I have had approximately 200 conversations about staying, going, and the metaphorical roots, weeds and soil of home. We didn’t anticipate the […]
Anxiety, Fertilizer and the Promised Land
by on August 20, 2018 21 Comments
I don’t know what anxiety feels like for anyone else, but for me it feels like a fist reaching in to grab and twist my stomach. It is pain and fear and worry and regret. It is a loud voice of accusation that sends me scurrying for cover, and running back over the past few […]
We Don’t Need Fires Lit Beneath Us
by on August 2, 2018 1 Comment
The sirens sounded behind me as I rounded the corner in my beat-up Camry. It was late 1999; I was 21. It never feels good to get pulled over by the police, but when the cop told me I had an expired registration, I wanted to sink into the floor. The notice to renew was […]
