Graduation Day
When those four babies of mine still fit in my arms, I said I’d never forget. The smell of their heads, the soft of their skin, the curve of their toes, their paper-thin fingernails. But the truth is, I have. The details elude me now. Sometimes they come back to me in bits and pieces, […]
The Quiet
My washing machine is loud. I think, maybe, she’s grown louder over the years as she turns and chugs and does her thankless job. Perhaps she’s complaining a bit about the endless work of cleaning stains, of rinsing detergent. I’ve gotten louder, too, as I’ve aged. I huff and puff when I walk, my ankles […]
Every Day Is Mothers Day
I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. Lucy was whining and licking my hand, wanting to be let outside. Once there, she snapped at carpenter bees until she wore herself out and cried to come back in. So began Mothers Day. I called my beautiful Mom, wished her a […]
Coffee with a Toddler
I got to have coffee with a toddler this morning. Well, I had coffee and she, a juice box. My fabulous new friend, Michelle and I talked for two hours while her daughter calmly went about the business of coloring and nibbling on a blueberry muffin. “Does the time really go that quickly?” Michelle asked. […]
It Takes a (Kind) Village
As a writer, I face rejection on a daily basis. People love or hate my work — or worse, they’re indifferent to it. Agents say no, publishers say no, magazine editors say no. What that’s done for me is thicken my skin. (Not thicken my rear end, although some would beg to differ.) My point? […]
Toddlers and Teens and In Betweens
Our kids are 15, 13, 12, and 10. That means at one point in our lives, they were 5, 3, 2, and barely out of the womb. When Mary Claire was born, Gus was not yet walking. When George (the baby) was born, Sam (the oldest) was still in preschool. People ask how we did […]
Book Two
The note-taking for “Table for Six: The Teenage Years” began this week. Sam is at that age where he “gets it,” but he’s still too young to talk about or fully process “it.” (At least that’s what I’m choosing to believe.) And I’m at that age where I tend to over-share. Yes, I realize that’s […]