My former student, Sarah Humway, wrote this post as an essay for English Comp I class last fall. I loved it and asked if she'd allow me to share it with all of you. She agreed. Thank you, Sarah! The most influential person in my life was not only someone who could pick me up… Continue reading Mimi’s influence
“Kindness is the mightiest force in the world,” according to One Day at a Time (299). In the past, I didn’t feel kind. I didn’t even feel like being kind. I felt like stabbing my ex-husband’s eyeballs with a handful of forks. If you know me now, you may be laughing and trying to imagine me… Continue reading Mighty kind
Lizard, Thank you for breaking me in back when I turned 22. There was nothing Taylor Swift about it. Your dad and I tied the knot three weeks after I graduated from college and three weeks after my birthday, and I frantically searched for employment while serving as your stepmom. I felt like I was… Continue reading Teaching me to mother
Giving back, paying it forward, passing it on. . . these are concepts I live by—partly because other people have done these kind of good deeds for me and to me. A friend and mentor of mine once gave me her family’s tax refund to help pay for a mission trip overseas. Their donation funded… Continue reading Being the dish
Day 25 in the Dear Gratitude project is submitted by yours truly :). Dear Need, I first remember meeting you, Need, when my father fell from his heroic platform in my mind. Grappling with drug addiction, he stood in our living room in Augusta, Kansas, in 1984, and admitted that he had fallen for Caroline.… Continue reading Day 25: Dear Need
I've said NEVER about plenty of things. And eaten my words plenty of times, too. "I will NEVER get divorced." Done. Twice. "I am NEVER going to be one of those people who moves back to the middle of nowhere as an adult!" Done. Here. "I'm never going to date another alcoholic or addict, EVER!"… Continue reading Never say never
My mom had a rough go of it growing up. I won't share details, because they are my mom's to share, but trust me. Despite the circumstances of her childhood, my mom chose to have four daughters, all of us about two years apart. When she found herself a single mom with four children under… Continue reading Mama DID
