In case my family looks at me with those confused expressions again when I say I am tired, might I present this as a short memoir; As a “cave drawing” of sorts. Somehow, my level of exhaustion never feels like a factor to them, even though they...
The year after the massive wildfire took out half our city, rent prices soared. There were not enough homes still standing to ever meet the demand. My mother had been on a tightly fixed income for years, and was finding that (even though this area...
From the very first moment, I pictured myself being there to witness the baby being born. Immediately after my daughter had handed me a plastic Target bag saying she “got something for me,” revealing two positive pregnancy tests inside (as soon as I...
Today my husband and youngest daughter are set to return home from an overnight stay in the redwoods for Outdoor Education. That means that today is also the end of, what I like to think of as, my Annual Personal Staycation. From the time my husband...
I used to sit there for hours, criss-cross-applesauce, playing, lost in a world that only existed in my dreams. We didn’t have much money back then for fancy toys. While other girls were getting Barbie Dream Houses and the brand new Nintendo system...
I don’t know when the change happened; I think it came gradually. At first it was just another place I had to go, another thing on the schedule, another time as a mom of choosing my kids over me. It must have happened there on the sidelines, feet...
Tonight my mom and I went to the mall, supposedly on an errand, but an errand that landed us in Bath and Body Works with a coupon, conveniently. Fall is already a dangerous time for being in that store, what with their addictive three wick candles...
For days my 11-year-old, Paige, has been sniffing and clearing phlegm from her throat. For days. I have checked her forehead with the back of my hand, and even taken her temperature, worried she was maybe coming down with something. I commented to...
Tessa climbed in bed beside me this morning saying she was not feeling well. Dark circles under her eyes. A sense of sadness on her face. And I didn’t really wonder why. She and I have been struggling so much lately. The one most like me, at 14...
It is 72 days until my first grandbaby is due. (But who’s counting, right?) My daughter, Alena, who is expecting was being thrown a shower by her church, and she invited me and her sisters to come partake in the celebration. Right from the start I...