mother

  • 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,…

  • Hopeless Wanderer

    Do you believe in miracles? Well, I do, and I think one just happened to me. In the late Winter after my mother passed, I was struggling with missing her and with my faith. One day, I took a walk and listened to music my sister, Molly, had just introduced me to. The music of…

  • Moms

    I’ve known lots of Moms. At this moment in time, I know several mothers with sick children. These Moms are keeping things going for them and other family members, and they do it with grace and a smile. I know mothers who are sick themselves, and they are doing what it takes to heal, and…

  • Real

    There are experiences in life that you can never really prepare yourself for. When they happen, they become ‘Real’ and you find yourself touching the divine in some way…real joy or pain brings about a kind of wonder and awe that separates us from everyday life. As I get older, I find myself looking for…

  • Holy Saturday

    Sometimes pictures surprise you.  The one above, taken four years ago on a Holy Saturday like today, was one that escaped my attention until just recently.  That day, my daughter had my camera and she took dozens and dozens of pictures…this one seemed just kind of random to me until I looked a bit deeper.  The…

  • First Spring Run

    Everyone’s running outside today.  After a brutal winter, it’s going to hit 50 degrees, and on a Saturday to boot, so the reluctant treadmill runners are making their way out among the diehard ice and snow crowd.  It’s a beautiful day, a bright blue sky and light wispy clouds, not too windy, and perfect for…

  • My Mom, a month later

    My good friend, Courtney, lost her mother about a year before I lost mine and she recommended I write to process some of what I’m feeling lately.  It occurred to me that I haven’t really written about anything in a long time, which is rare for me.  I have felt overwhelming fatigue and I have…

  • On Worry

    This week, my mother started chemo again for the third time, and it’s scary and not something I can control.  In addition to that, there’s lots of everyday worries and changes that I’m trying to keep up with…trying to do my best.  At times lately, it feels like I’m treading water.  Today, I had to…

  • That’s What We Do

    I looked a beat too long at a young mother and her baby boy at Market Basket yesterday. She was settling him into the seat, and sweet talking in his ear. She might have been me sixteen years ago. She looked up and smiled, and I apologized, explaining that I sometimes really miss those days. We talked…

  • 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…