I sent my son back to college last week, waving with what I hope looked like cheerfulness as he backed his truck from the driveway. He returned 20 minutes later, having forgotten something important, though I can't now remember what it was. A shirt, maybe, or a favorite jacket. He pulled in front of the … Continue reading Flat circles.
See, what happened was this: Our neighbors moved, and when they cleared out of their house they left stuff on the curb (because that's how we roll around here, or at least that's how it used to be before things got fancy). Among the treasures they left on the curb were an electronic dart board … Continue reading Be the light.
I had such a funny story to share with you, and I was so pleased with myself to have a funny story to share before sharing the not-funny story that has been on my mind in recent weeks. It was all there, the funny story, in my head, in the morning, while I was making … Continue reading A few things: August 2019
Here is the friends' plan: The beach, a budget, split costs; Three girls, one mother. I waited to act, thinking they might lose interest. But they persisted. [Leaving home brings a familiar anxiety: What if the world ends?] Long miles of highway, Some chatter and snacks. Music. They sleep, and I drive. It's like old … Continue reading Beach haiku.
I buy a camera, a digital one, and reopen the musty bag of lenses and gear that has been schlepped from city to city, closet to closet, for more than a decade. You coach t-ball. Your mother visits, sits at the kitchen table with our son, drawing pictures of windmills in orange and blue. Orange … Continue reading 13
When my mother died, you and a friend (a very good friend) loaded her furniture and books and clothes on a flatbed trailer and drove them to our new house, even though it wasn't quite ready yet. You packed it all, even her unmentionables, and hauled it by hand, without complaint, in the dark. You … Continue reading 14
Nurse the baby, feed the toddler (Cheerios), pack bags, shower, dress, listen to Veggitales, drive to Calvary (look, it's a backhoe! and an excavator!), go to work, leave work at 5:55 (because Calvary Place closes at 6), feed the children, read books, bathe children, read more books, nurse the baby, fall asleep. I have a … Continue reading 15
We're going to need a bigger house, I said. You were not sure. The people who built this house and lived here for 52 years, the people who planted the twin dogwood trees in the front yard, they raised two children in this house, you said. But both children were girls, I reminded you. Our … Continue reading 16
