Hurricane Lessons, Chapter 24
I remember the moment it happened, the single spark that set my body aflame. My Pilates instructor and friend stood behind me on the reformer and pressed her legs into my back, her hands into my shoulders. The strength of her long, lean limbs drove me into submission. Her long, blonde hair tickled the back […]
Holding Pattern
Mom and Bob would have been married 38 years today. They married when I was 14. When I think about how much has happened between 14 and 51, I am astounded by all that’s contained within 38 years. They loved each other so well, Mom and Bob. I miss them every day. My sweet cousin, […]
The Space Between
When my mother died, I sat at her bedside and held her hand Until I could feel it turning cold. I’m certain I cried, But I don’t remember tears. I just remember the soft vellum of her fingers, The falling temperature of them, The slight part of her lips. “Stay as long as you’d like,” […]
Quicksand and Greeting Cards
As a kid, I was afraid of drowning in quicksand. I mean, I saw it on Gilligan’s Island, The Incredible Hulk, and Land of the Lost. How could I not be afraid? Once you stepped in it, you were pretty much a goner unless you got angry enough to transform into the Hulk, or The […]
Goodbye, Hello
Hey, friends! I wanted to reach out one more time to remind you that this site (www.katrinaannewillis.com) will be retired as of 11/30/2020. Please come visit (and stay awhile!) at www.katrinawrites.com, where you’ll find all my existing content, be able to sign up for my newsletter and be notified of new content, purchase my books, […]
Vote Him Out
I know there are many who suffer from PTSD. I never counted myself among them, even with a colorful history of sexual abuse and violence. I’ve been through enough therapy to consider myself as healed as I’m going to get. A psychotherapist friend often posts about how victims carry their trauma in their skin, in […]
The Weight of a Pandemic
I haven’t hugged my mom since March. I haven’t seen my best friends in the same amount of time. We had to put our family dog down a couple of weeks ago, and every single thing that happens during this cataclysmic time feels so incredibly heavy. For someone prone to over-the-top emotions in a regular […]
A Million Years Ago
I can’t read any more. Nothing holds my interest. I’ve been skimming the same book for two months now, and I’m only 50 pages in. I keep reading a couple of lines each night, hoping there’s a turn of phrase that will draw me in. But there never is. I set the book beside my […]
Inviting Myself to the Fight
I’ve been invited to a few fights in my life. Most of the fights I’ve participated in haven’t been mine. I find that I’m jumping into the fray far more frequently now that the election is near and racial tensions are high. Sometimes I just can’t stay silent. Yesterday, I was scrolling through Facebook and […]
The Search for Understanding
Early on, I was wounded by words from someone I once believed to be a friend. I was recovering from back surgery, in a great amount of pain, on even larger amounts of drugs, and I saw the picture pop up on my social media. It was of three of my friends and Chris’s new […]