Do as I Say, Not as I Do

Parenting Advice From My Mother My mother was…not always equipped to be a good mother. She started young, and her inner demons made it hard for her to be the person she wanted to be for her children.

Breathe

Here, take a breath Come from a mountain High in the Himalayas Take it in, reverently; Savor – Now release, an offering to trees Deep in the Amazon. Rest. In, salt-kissed Caribbean air Warmed, as you, by the sun; Hold that joy, Then out, A gift for the green of Ireland. Wonder – How you…

Magic Verse

A bit of a foray into fiction. My kids and I came up with the idea and characters for this story together, and this is the first installment.

Forgiveness – It’s Never About Them

Forgiveness is a fraught topic. The Online Etymological Dictionary entry for “forgive” suggests its origin is as follows: Old English forgiefan “give, grant, allow; remit (a debt), pardon (an offense),” also “give up” and “give in marriage” (past tense forgeaf, past participle forgifen); from for-, here probably “completely,” + giefan “to give” (from PIE root *ghabh- “to give or receive”). “Completely given” makes sense…

Unfettered

Free, the murmuration rises New with every beating breath; Living stream of grace and beauty Pulsing, flowing, length and breadth Shifting geometric daring Without planning or preparing. Force this pure cannot be harnessed. Caged, the beauty stills and dies; Creativity is living And it must be free to rise. Let it go, release, unhand it;…

What Will Be Your Measure of Success?

It’s taken me three dozen years to get here, but I finally know what I value the most in this world. It’s not respect, although I enjoy that immensely and it’s definitely high on my list. Not money – I’d like enough to never have to think about it again, but no more. Fame is…

Just Maybe.

Four years ago, I wrapped my battered hope in sorrow and despair and carefully placed it on a dark shelf behind my Will. I went about my days, then, drearily; I could not see the future for the gloom and as time trundled on I near forgot that hope had ever sung, or spread its…

How to Make Friends

File this one under “Adulthood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” I don’t have a lot of experience making friends. Most of the time, if I have a friend, it is because they are an extrovert and they adopted me. But if I thought making friends as a child was rough, it paled in…

Butterscotch Memories

The first time I tasted butterscotch I was at my best friend, J’s, house. Her mom had let us make cookies, and instead of chocolate chips we added butterscotch ones. For me, it was love at first taste. Like everything else about J’s house, butterscotch was warmly comforting and slightly exotic. As the oldest of…