Blog
A Broken Furnace Vs. Homelessness
Whine. Whine. Whine. My furnace went out this week. I woke up Monday, just as my husband’s car pulled away to take him to Southern California for five days, noticing the house was a bit chilly. And silent. The furnace wouldn’t come on. No problem. I’d call our Heating...
A Non-Heated Discussion about Race and Violence
There we were, an interracial, intergenerational group of about twenty something people represented by Caucasian, Asian, African Americans and Hispanics, huddled in a large circle in the basement of a pub, having a rational discussion about the hot button topic of...
Longings Never Cease
My son returned from three and a half years in the Peace Corps and has been living in our home as he searches for the new pieces needed to rebuild his life here. We are watching his roller coaster adjustment, and he’s filled with the emotions predicted by the Peace...
An Unlikely Friendship
I loved this article in the recent issue of Time magazine about the relationship between Bill Clinton and the Bush family. In an era of hostility from both sides of the aisle, this cover story painted such a picture of grace shown by both men. The article tells how...
The Listing of a Year-Long Health Crisis
June 2014 Healthy and active gym member New seizure medication Severe muscle pain ER, MRI, CAT scan, x-rays No diagnosis Ice pack hidden under scarves at work Chiropractor, primary care physician, neurologist August 2014 Pain continues Useless over-the-counter...
WORK
“All work is honorable.” - Bill MacKillop During my college years, I prepared to go to work at the midnight hour while my roommates prepared for bed by climbing under their warm blankets and turning off the light. Sunday through Thursday evenings,...
In Sickness and in Health
We went to a lovely wedding this weekend and witnessed a young couple who are madly in love commit to each other for a lifetime. When my husband and I made the same promise 31 years ago, we were in perfect health, filled with energy and the promise of a new and...
Reconciliation
"Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last. While we all hope for peace, it shouldn't be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice." Corazon Aquino It’s happened to me twice in the past year. Two times in one...
Antagonists: You Can’t Live with Them and You Can’t Write a Story without Them
My faculty mentor in my writing program wants me to turn two of my fictional characters into stronger antagonists. She feels they’re not quite causing enough trouble in their current form. The purpose of an antagonist is to prevent your main character from reaching...
Less Words, More Silence
"I have often regretted my speech, never my silence." - Xenocrates (396-314 B.C.) You learned later in life to utter that prayer for yourself and others, the one that pops up regularly in your mind: “Lord, give me the words - and the silences.” Where did that...
Remembering Broken Fathers on Father’s Day
It’s Father’s Day, and I’m watching as all the tributes to wonderful Dads fill the Facebook world. I expected them, and celebrate with my friends whose dads passed down remarkable legacies. But some of us had very broken dads, and we inherited a different kind of...
Book Review: Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers
I recently had the chance to sit in on a workshop called “Loving Our Neighbors and Enemies: Writing toward Reconciliation,” led by the dynamic author and speaker Leslie Leyland Fields. Her balanced approach to addressing forgiveness within the context of broken...