The day we brought her home, I placed her, tiny and squirming, on the big stuffed lion where our last dog, Phobe, had liked to lay, and we had a talk about the big shoes she now had to fill. Our Boston Terrier, Phoebe, had been loyal, funny, perfect...
It was today. The day they had talked about and planned for weeks. They had even discussed what they’d wear. My four daughters had finally made it to the Monday of the Event: The Night they’d all go to Chili’s together and order “The Triple Dipper:”...
Yesterday, my oldest daughter, Alena, asked if I would like to accompany her and my almost 2 year old granddaughter, Mavis, to Walmart for some things that she needed. I agreed, and started off the trip smiling, even from the parking lot of the...
I have a thirteen year old daughter that is actively REALLY teenagering. She is teenagering so hard it leaves the rest of us frequently sitting with big eyes and sideways glances the moment she walks away from us. As she is the fourth daughter, my...
I watched my granddaughter, Mavis, today through the afternoon and evening. Through her sticky hands, and 80 books, and through all of the things she usually asks for: Miss Rachel, her legs tickled, strawberry kefir, being asked what a monkey says...
I remember the year I thought it was all over. My kids were old enough to all be in school, and I was packing up some of their baby toys for donation, crying over doing it, as if I hadn’t just been cursing the consistent state of the toy room. For...
I have felt powerless often these days; Powerless against so much chaos and division, Powerless against the changing tides of culture, and seemingly relentless swells of hate. I’ve spent a lot of time wringing my hands, praying, and planning for...
I thought myself a real domestic queen as I stood baking a homemade peach cobbler with peaches from my daughter, Alena, and her husband Aaron’s tree. Some nights I just feel the urge to make something. Completely random, I thought. The desire to...
So, the shortest summer in history draws to a close, and it is time again for back-to-school shopping. As a mother of four daughters, I assumed this would be an easy task. Girls love to shop, right? Wrong. Whoever thinks this has not met my 13...
Fifteen years ago, my mom’s best friend, Lyn, died of cancer. She had battled it a long time, as it spread through her body, starting as just a back ache that ended up being more. My mom went with her on a cruise after the diagnosis to laugh and...