We found our son. After a long, overnight flight and an interminably long wait for our luggage in the Macedonia airport, we spotted Kenzie waiting outside glass sliding doors behind a roped off area. I paced the airport baggage claim area until our suitcase appeared. After snagging our bag, we made a dash through the …
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My Beautiful Son
I haven’t seen him in nearly two years. I know parents of military men and women often don’t see their sons and daughters for two years, but this is a first for me since I’m not a military parent. My son is serving with the Peace Corps in Macedonia, teaching English in a primary school. …
Boston My Home
I fall in love with places. Deeply in love. I woke this morning to my husband singing Nancy Griffith’s “Love at the Five and Dime” and had to listen to the song on our iPod. It had been a very, very long time since I’d heard the tune. Anyone who knows me well knows I …
Shifting Viewpoints for a Shifting Mind
I’ve officially wrapped up the first year of my writing program. One year down. Two to go. Hopefully all my newfound knowledge is transferring to my stories. Because I’ve been telling the tale of an older woman with Alzheimer’s from her point of view (which is slightly unreliable, with a few drifts in and out …
How Old Am I?
“How old am I?” I asked my husband several months back. He shot me a concerned look, thinking I was having an “Eva moment” as we call forgetful times in our house named after the character in my novel with Alzheimer’s. Eva moments include times when I leave my purse in Starbucks and someone chases …
Brick by Brick
Nothing satisfies more than finishing a day of writing at the computer and finding a strong body of work appear on the page. But in all honesty, many days are duds, leaving me disappointed in the small amount of work created. On the unproductive days, I always walk away from a seven, eight, nine-hour stint …
Family Visits in the Techno Age
We’ve gathered for our annual Christmas get-together, and technology is the new guest. We’ve debated whether we should have “no-technology” moments during our family visit as we became aware that at times all 7 people staying at our house have our noses stuck in 7 different pieces of technology – laptops, iPads, or smartphones. …
A Peaceful Hush
In my growing up years, we children often fell asleep to the sounds of parental battles downstairs, someone screeching tires out of the driveway in a fit of rage, glasses crashing against walls and voices shouting to be heard. But at Christmas time, the most amazing thing would happen. For some reason, my parents called …
Love in the Latter Years
My husband and I leave pre-dawn for a 3-hour journey to visit one of our sons. Road trips and travel invite thoughts to wander and memories to stir, forming narrative and reflection that instruct. We fill up with coffee before merging onto a nearly deserted highway, music serenading us from the CD player, the top down …
Why am I Talking?
I heard an Anne Lamott interview recently where the well-known author shared her thoughts about the role of being a mother-in-law. My ears perked up as I’ve now been a mother-in-law for two years and hope to always have a respectful, loving relationship with my daughter-in-law and any future daughter-in-laws. In her characteristic humor, Lamott …