A Letter To My 16-Year-Old Son

Sam's Prom Picture

Dear Teenager, Sometimes life doesn’t seem fair. Do you know why? Because it isn’t. But here’s a little something I’ve learned in my 43 years on this earth… life always gives you exactly what you need in order to learn the next lesson. That’s what it’s all about here — stretching, growing, becoming who we […]

Toy Poodle

Mary Claire Hugging Lucy

If you haven’t yet discovered Dan Pearce at Single Dad Laughing, please take a moment and go find him now. (I’ve made it really easy for you. All you have to do is click on the link.) He’s witty and smart and irreverent and poignant all wrapped into a package of awesomeness. Really. Trust me […]

This Boy

George

It’s inconceivable that I had my last baby 11 years ago. For awhile, it seemed having babies was all I did. But today, my youngest hits Same-Double-Digits. (You’ve heard that story a million times, haven’t you? My kids still like to taunt me with it, though. No one in this family forgets ANYTHING.) 11 on […]

The Time We Have

Katrina with Her Sister Carrie and their Mom

I’m feeling a sense of desperation tonight. There’s not enough time. I’ve wasted it. I’ve squandered it. I’ve let too much of it pass by. A dear friend of mine says, “The time we have is the time we have.” I know what she means by it. We get what we get. We cannot make […]

Fear Factor

Mary Claire and George

“I feel like such a wimp,” Mary Claire said, crawling into my king-sized bed. “I’m sorry I did it. I thought I’d be okay.” “You don’t have to apologize,” I assured her. “This is a lesson — the first of many — about making good choices and standing up for yourself. I’m really sorry those […]

Mother Lode

Katrina and Gus

He is fourteen now. It is surreal to me, this knowledge. That he is fourteen years old in the shadow of the long-ago unspoken fear that he might not even see fourteen days is almost too much to consider. If I think about it for long, my breath grows short and my heart skips and […]

The Skin I’m In

Katrina

“Listen To Your Mother” was an unbelievably moving experience. The women, the stories, the camaraderie, the fabulous audience, every single moment of it. It was better than anything I could have imagined. And then. The photographer’s pictures were released. This post is not about “Listen To Your Mother.” That deserves its own sacred space. This, […]