For Reals

Mary Claire

My 13-year-old daughter has a vernacular all her own. She “feels all the feels” and validates her experiences because they’re “for reals.” She punctuates her sentences with acronyms and wild hand gestures and dramatic facial expressions. When she trips on the sidewalk, she asks, “How do you walk?” That particular phrasing carries over into everything […]

A Trip Around the Sun

Date Night Selfie with Purple Hat

Today begins another trip around the sun. The snow in our backyard is melting, revealing layers upon layers of dog poo — the remnants of a long, cold, record-setting season — measuring the winter of our discontent like rings on a tree. But it’s the first day of spring, my birthday, and there are buds […]

Mama Love

Katrina's beautiful, funny, irreverent, magnetic Mom.

It is her birthday today, my Mama. And also, Elvis’s. I always have to do the math. Mom had me when she was 30… I am 43… that makes her 73 today. 73 years is a long time to be loved unconditionally, and yet my Mom has always been up to the task. We may […]