These days I travel with wads of Kleenex at the ready. Or toilet paper. Or napkins. I’m tearing up at the drop of a hat. Misty over big things, like my son’s scholarship to college. Over small things, like an innocuous remark. A photograph may set off a chain reaction – recollections of my boys […]
Bite Me
Two little words that are good for what ails me.
What Ruffles Your Feathers?
Dirty laundry. Bouts of bitching. Ruffled feathers.
Rise and Shine
There was cruelty in the way she did it. And no matter how many times I asked her to stop, she refused. But then, there was cruelty in the way she approached many of those she professed to love, and I still feel the sting of her words, and the burn of her unanticipated rages. […]
Taking It on the Chin
The arguing began within five minutes of waking. I couldn’t believe it. That fast? I had tried to cool things down last night so I could sleep. But here it was. Again. The same damn thing, like a broken record. Everything, an irritation First, there was the email that knocked me for a loop. Not […]
Dance While You Can
At night, for more than a week, I heard their sounds outside. Laughter mostly. Music occasionally. Fortunately, they have always been considerate about keeping the decibel level down for the old folks in the neighborhood. You know. Those of us over the age of 20. And they were content, sitting around the fire pit, often […]
Giving Shape to Invisibility
Giving shape to invisibility. I plucked those evocative words from a writer I’ve recently discovered, Wolf Pascoe at Just Add Father, and the reference comes from this: When I was eight, my father died suddenly. My mother never remarried. As a result, a good part of my life has been defined by what was missing. […]
Monday Morning Moments
After a really lousy few days, there’s nothing like a different sort of reality check. For example, everything that could have gone wrong that didn’t. On a Monday! For example: My computer didn’t crash. My car started despite the cold. I got the kid to school on time. His painting project is going well. I […]
My Mother’s Dress
I know this to be my truth: there are moments that take place between a man and a woman that you should never speak of, and they could fill a book, and my mother spoke of them, and I wish she had not. Yet I believed her. Or rather, I believed the depth of her […]
Winding Down or Wearing Out
Sometimes we surprise ourselves. Who would have thought that physical fatigue and mental acuity could coexist – comfortably? Or do we simply adjust to being tired as a way of life, and enjoy those times when our minds (or emotions) are humming along just fine no matter what? Like most parents, I’m tired. And for […]