Archive for 2017
Living Two-Handed and Two-Faced
“Where’s the video on college dorms?” she asked. We clicked computer screens until the welcome week college video started playing. Smiling faces toured the university campus, music pulsed, and Morgan and I watched footage of dorm room move-ins and bunk bed assembly. Joy welled in me, and I thumped her back. “I’m so excited for…
Read MoreWatching You
I’ve watched you. You smoothing tablecloths across MOPS tables with your kids latched on to a leg or perched on your right hip. You carrying egg bakes in one hand and round-faced, red-cheeked toddlers in the other, welcoming new moms with warm smiles. Photo Credit:Flickr user Elvis Kennedy, under permission of Creative Commons cc license…
Read MoreOops, God.
Groggily walking through the kitchen, I buttered three toasts, drizzled honey, and cored apples, quartering them. Photo Credit: Flickr user Amanda Slater, Creative Commons cc license Strapping one blonde-haired nephew into his blue high chair, I watched the two older boys climb into their chairs, cheerfully talking. Hot toast crumbled and steamed on small white…
Read MoreWhat Marbles and Ice Slip Significant into our Lives Tonight
“Every year I take one out,” he says. He describes a glass jar of marbles that hulks on a corner of his desk. He is professional, efficient, an accomplished businessman, and his words have stuck in my brain ever since. “I set up the jar, estimated how many years an average person lives, and now…
Read MoreWhen Alarms Sound and You Want to Be Brave
Under a torn moon in a black sky, I push my cart. Groceries rattle against rustling paper bags. I’ve been wondering this for several days now. How do we live bravely? That’s my word for the year: Brave. While I don’t think of myself as a fearful person, I’m realizing how often stories of great…
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