Skating Away
When Christmas morning arrived and there were two shiny new pairs of ice skates under the tree—one for me and one for my big sister, Carrie—I was in heaven. I tied the laces together, carried them on my shoulder, and waited for the temperature to drop. I sang, “Please don’t let this feeling end, it’s everything I am, everything I want to be…” over and over again until my sister finally told me to give it a rest and poked me with the spit-sharpened end of a Jolly Rancher stick.
Mountain Man
Dear Diary, Every weekday morning, I get a text message that reads: I’m going up the mountain. If you don’t hear from me by 6, text me. If you don’t hear from me by 6:30, call me. If you don’t hear from me by 7:30, call the research center. If you don’t hear from me […]
Pack Animals
My kids often remind me of the hyenas in “The Lion King.” The maniacal laughter, the irreverence, the bad jokes, the drooling, the food scavenging, the mange. One minute, they’re in sync and united to take down their common enemy (usually Chris or me), and the next, they’ve turned on each other, teeth bared, hackles […]
The Time We Have
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 […]