Just Because
Life Lessons at Trader Joe’s
Grocery stores and the people inside don’t know how special they are to me. Honestly. My experiences at grocery stores are legendary! Okay, well, not legendary, but one encounter led to a moment of human connection and another to a novel. And those are just the moments I wrote about. But as my family will…
Read MoreMy Speedster
A few days ago, a letter addressed to me arrived in the mail. It said: A vehicle registered in your name was photographed violating the traffic law or ordinance listed below, or the registered owner of the vehicle has submitted an Affidavit naming you as the operator of the vehicle at the time of the…
Read MoreYou Can Do It
Several days ago, I received a lovely email from a reader: Hello! My name is [Student Name] and I am a student in the Creative Writing MFA Program at [College Name]. I am nearing graduation and am beginning a class, which is designed to prepare us for life as writers! For a course assignment, we…
Read MoreEven More Words for the New Year 7
Well, friends, we’ve had another interesting year, have we not? Here we are, two years into this pandemic, a year past vaccinations began, and we’re still hearing complaints about mask usage and vaccine mandates. We’ve proven that vaccines work (if you’re vaccinated, you might get a breakthrough case, but it looks like you won’t be…
Read MoreDo the Math!
October has always been a month of reflection for me. A time when the leaves fall, the days become cooler, and the moments in my head spin endlessly as I assess where I am in life and where I’m going and if what I’m doing is working for me. Part of that assessment this year included looking at my Author…
Read MoreAlways a Teacher
Her name is tucked between those of two friends in the acknowledgment section of my debut novel. If you don’t know to look for it, you might miss it. But I know her name is there. Diane Dougherty and I met only once in person over twenty years ago on one of my first visits…
Read MoreLucky Us
Twenty years ago, only a week and a half after 9/11, I made my way to my first ultrasound. Since this was my first pregnancy, and everything had been progressing as it should, my ultrasound had been scheduled for 19 weeks, almost halfway through the pregnancy. Thanks to the events that occurred earlier in September,…
Read MoreTalking to the Animals
When the girls were around six months old (or maybe a bit younger), one of Tim’s fellow graduate students bought them an extra large Pooh Bear. By extra large, I simply mean he outranked them by quite a bit. (Pooh never outweighed them, but he certainly stood taller, since on his back paws, Pooh stands…
Read MoreThat Season
It’s that season again: twice a day soccer practices. One at six in the morning, the other in the evening. Which means its the season of morning disruptions. My morning disruption. Aaron is old enough to get himself to practice now, but having another human being up early puts me in a mood. A funk,…
Read MoreIdentity Crisis
One of my personal Gmail accounts has been in existence since January 4, 2005. Since that time, I’ve entered that address when I shop online; I’ve given it to schools, churches, sports teams, and music teachers; it finds its way to contact forms for nonprofits and other organizations I support. And since that time, I’ve…
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