daughter

  • Summer of Change

    I am a few days into the Summer of Dread. With one kid at camp and one out working, I feared I would find myself aimless and depressed, and I will battle those demons in these months, to be sure. What I did not know is how a dog would change everything. Back when my…

  • Gates

    A couple of days ago, I was waiting for a package to arrive at my parents’ house and my attention was drawn to this corner of their living room. Specifically, I was intrigued at the placement of two photographs of gates so near each other and something told me to tuck that away for future…

  • Pails

    We had just parked the beach buggy. My sixteen-year old son and fourteen-year old daughter went off to play catch, so I sighed my way into my new beach chair and scanned the horizon. I saw the most adorable couple of older ladies chatting, a few young families, teenage girls already baking in the sun,…

  • Cookies and Tater Tots

    Each time I step into the my hometown elementary school to teach Kindergarten music, I’m hit with the smell of cookies and tater tots.  It’s a smell that brings me right back to the time when my kids attended this school, and it evokes strong memories of those long-ago days.  I can see my Kindergarten-aged…

  • For my Hometown Moms

    Every so often, at a school or sports event, I will look out at the sea of kids and realize the rare privilege we have. We are connected because we occupy one speck of a dot on a map and we are raising our kids in this speck, at this time. We’ve watched this batch…

  • Learning to Swim

    I have taken my kids to swim lessons at a local college for years and have always loved this program.  They swim for a half hour each day for two weeks, learning new skills quickly.  This has been an odd Summer since one of my kids is away at camp and this is the first swim…

  • Sweatshirt

    Last night I was talking to my Mom who art in Heaven and was simultaneously wiping tears away with my sweatshirt sleeve. Today I grabbed that same sweatshirt to go for a run.  It got wet with rain and I finally tore it off and used it to wipe sweat from my face as I finished…

  • My Daughter, My Hero

    We rarely get the opportunity to be truly present in a moment we know will impact our children’s lives.  Those moments are usually best appreciated in hindsight…they stand out to us because of what happened afterwards.  But last night, I got to witness something pretty amazing.  My eleven year old daughter had her very first violin…

  • Dear Poison Ivy,

      Dear Poison Ivy, No one could say the time we’ve spent together this week was fun, but now that the rash is receding from my face and neck, I’ve found I’ve learned a few things along the way for which I have you to thank. 1. Toxic lifeforms will give you advance warning if…

  • Blessings

    Ever since my children were in preschool, I have said a little prayer over them as I’ve dropped them off for the day.  In those early years, it was so hard to leave them in someone else’s hands.  Until they went to school, they grew in an environment that was controlled mostly by me.  School…