Up and Down Dog
Finding balance in a topsy turvy world…
You held my hand…
You held my hand and taught me to wait before crossing the street. Later you watched as I crossed the street all alone, only looking back for a moment before running off with my friends. Was it difficult to let me go? When I was older, you taught me how to bake an...
Checking it Twice…
"Inside everyone is a great shout of joy waiting to be born" David Whyte With just days left of 2018, I dug out the list of intentions that I wrote in January to see how the year stacked up. Being a planner and list maker, I look forward to this year-end ritual of...
The Good Is Coming
Jack Nicholas, professional golfing legend, used the mantra, "The good is coming," whenever he found himself falling behind in a golf tournament. According to the story, this helped keep him from spiraling out of control with self-judgement and frustration and often...
A Legacy of Words
Mama was the undisputed Scrabble Champ of The West Ashley Branch Library in Charleston, South Carolina from 1999-2004. Growing up, she taught us words like "Oe" (Faroean Wind) and "Jo"(Sweetheart). She collected words the way other moms collected...
My Mama’s Smile
Today you turned and looked at me when I sat next to you. You asked me what I had been up to as though it was the most normal of conversations and that we were picking up where we had just left off. You let me hold your hand and you smiled when I put my puppy Wilma on...
Love the One You’re With
Ever notice a flower growing up through the crack in a rock, defying all odds to assert it's beauty in the world? That's how love is sometimes... During a recent visit to what we refer to jokingly as Mad Park, the memory care facility where Mom lives, I was struck by...
The Road Less Traveled…
"Travel is the discovery of truth; an affirmation of the promise that human kind is far more beautiful than it is flawed. With each trip comes a new optimism that where there is despair and hardship, there are ideas and people just waiting to be energized, to be...
What Remains Is What We Loved…
Mom stoops to pick up a leaf from the walkway at the memory care facility. She says with purpose, "I need to get out here and get these picked up." Mom has always loved to sweep, and rake and weed. I make a mental note to bring her a broom when I come back for a...
The End Game
I've never been one to read the last page of a book first, in order to find out how it ends. But I'll admit I am a planner. I usually have a list, a day-timer and lots of colored post-it notes to keep me organized and on top of things. So when I heard that Jyotishas,...
An Unlikely Church
It was Sunday morning but we had no plans to go to church. I spent my first ten years as the daughter of Christian missionary parents in Japan and have found comfort and community in churches at various times in my life. Recently though, I have felt more...
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