My grandmother passed away in July. She is an integral part of the woman I am today. She was a part of every event in my life, minor and major. No matter where the USAF took us, she would come visit, even though she was afraid of flying. I am not certain how to exist…
Category: Personal
Hey…
Hey. That sounds so empty after all that we have been through. We have been reduced to a mere word uttered with such trepidation and grief. A word that was once so familiar has become so tarnished by panic. In a word, love has been replaced with hey. Hey. It is what you say when you…
The human condition
Nine years ago my friend died. There really isn’t a nicer way to say it. She has been gone longer now than the number of years I got to spend time with her. She believed in me in ways no one else did. She asked the questions that I had desperately needed someone to ask….
“In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don’t have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don’t need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care…
Things I wish my middle-schoolers knew…
The church and I only have them, on average, four hours a week. That leaves one hundred and sixty eight hours for someone, or something, else to fill. Weekly: 4 versus 168. Monthly: 16 versus 672. Yearly: 208 versus 8,736. The enormity of that difference is frightening. Who or what is filling those hours? The…
Tribe
I love the idea of a tribe. A squad. A group. A posse. A pack. Whatever you want to call it. I call mine a tribe because the word means something to me; I feel it in my bones. My tribe has certainly changed throughout the years. It has shrunk, it has grown, it has…
Pieces of September
My beautiful sister spent some time at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum this past weekend and I believe her life is forever changed because of it. After hearing her reminisce about her journey of grief on that hallowed ground, I began to think of my own memories of that fateful day. I was thirteen years…
It’s a new year…
Resolution. I like that word. Some words are powerful and this is one of English’s more fascinating, compelling words. Like many words in English, the word resolution can mean different things, depending on the context. It can mean a firm decision to do or not to do something. Intention. Resolve. Plan. 2. It can also…
Sin
“It can come dressed in white lily lace, Wrapped with the golden bow of solid treasure. There is but one key to the lock That seals Pandora’s box. It whispers beautiful music That causes you to dance wildly, Taking you back to a time Where you felt most alive. So you invite it in… You…
Musings while I wait.
Something broke in us that day. We fell apart. Slowly. Little by little. Like ice under the water, it cut silently our existence. We didn’t know it at the time, Small cracks, minute chips, expanded. Like a crevice in a rock, it became a cliff. The pain was invisible at first. Ache that throbbed all…