family

  • Lost

      My daughter and I had a delightful breakfast on the water followed by a perfect walk followed by the shock of the realization that somewhere along the way, I had lost my keys. Our sunny, grateful moods turned quickly, hers to panic and mine to gritty determination to find what was lost. We retraced…

  • Picture

    My Dad has been cleaning out his attic and today brought me a trash bag full of treasures from my early life that my mother had saved over the years. Going through old cards I had given to her was a little window into the person I was when I lived under their roof, most…

  • Stars

    When my son was two or three, we started playing musical games after dinner. We had a regular evening dance schedule when he was a baby, but the games were a whole other level. We would listen to instrumental music and let it speak to us, imagining the story that might go along with it.…

  • Hamilton

    I’ve read lots of accounts attempting to explain the reach and appeal of Hamilton, a Broadway show that has taken the world by storm. Some who have written about it are immigrants, or have close relatives who were, and they identify with Alexander Hamilton’s trials, determination, and hard fought success. Some are fathers, and they…

  • Spoiled

    When my son texted to ask me to bring his forgotten chromebook to school, I was immediately conflicted. I went through all of the arguments in my head that I always do when one of my kids forgets something at school, which is blessedly rare. But each time, I think to myself: let them handle…

  • Hero

    My son begs me to stop telling the stories of when I did everything wrong. When I speak from the catalog of my most embarrassing moments, he becomes physically uncomfortable, desperate to climb into a time machine and rescue me from myself. But there are lessons to be learned in all of that muck, lessons…

  • Mother

    I cannot sleep until my children are home. These days as a mother of teenagers, it makes for some late nights on the couch, phone in my hand, until I hear the car pull in, the door click open. Their father is able to sleep soundly without one speck of worry in their absence, and…

  • Bailey

    One year ago, we brought our dog home from a rescue shelter in New Hampshire. It was a long journey for her, from Arkansas to New Hampshire to here, and she had at least three different names along the way. It was a long journey for us as well. For many years, I was the…

  • Character

    When we were young, our mother would gather me and my sisters on Good Friday to read the story of the Passion. Wearing pajamas and carrying mugs of tea, we sat from noon to three, for once not rebelling against her wishes. She told us that every aspect of humanity could be found in that…

  • Christmas, Death, Birth

    On November 4, 2012, my family celebrated one last Christmas with our Mom. She died the next day. The day that followed that was my forty-first birthday. On that birthday/funeral planning morning, as Facebook greetings poured in on top of condolences, one sweet friend wrote that she hoped I would one day find some meaning…