When my youngest daughter, Paige, was in kindergarten, she came home from school looking defeated one day. Later, as I cleaned her backpack out, I came to understand why more clearly: At the bottom of her tiny Dory bag, I found a crumpled-up flash...
My husband, Justin, is a real lightweight when it comes to two things: Spicy food and too late of a bedtime. He works at 2:45 am every morning, and usually goes to bed by 6:30 pm because of it. He can barely make it through taco seasoning without...
Driving to an appointment today, I spotted a White Egret standing alone on a small patch of land that sits sandwiched between two sides of the highway. It was striking to see such a lovely bird there, in the tall, marshy grass, yet still so close to...
I can picture it as vividly as if it were happening now: Metal desk, giant green screen computer, notebook paper pad. I had a 4×6” photograph of the neighborhood. It is the neighborhood I would later come, once again, to live in. I was about ten...
She calls me “My Sweetie.” Sometimes it’s “Baby.” Her chubby hand and dimpled knuckles pat my arm. I have loved being a grandmother to Mavis from the very first second I saw her red-faced in the delivery room, just like I knew I would, but I’m...
When my mom moved back to my town 3 years ago, I was elated. She had lived with my brother and his family for several years, hours away, and I had deeply missed her. I was thrilled to have her back around my girls and me, thrilled to think of things...
Two nights ago, as I watched The Pitt on HBO, there was an episode that involved a dad bringing his son into the ER because he had stuck two beads up his nose. I watched in mild amusement. I’d never had to deal with that kind of thing with my own...
My youngest turned 14 today. She has always been a fiery one. Though she is taller and more mature now, I know at least that spark in her will never change. Paige was born at 5:00, on the nose, on a Friday: “Party time and Quitting Time,” we always...
I made cookies this week; “Mom’s cookies,” the kids call them. Plain gluten-free chocolate chip. Nothing fancy, really, but I wanted something sweet, so I set the oven to preheat, and started to mix. I know the recipe by heart at this point, and as...
After years of disputing my husband’s claims that Red Vines were medicinal, I guess my urging him to actually take care of himself for real finally sank in. This last year, he had orthotics made to correct his overpronation, he went to the...










