My Mother in Blurry Shadows
There is an app called Blur Photo that allows you to safely post a photo that will, no surprise, blur faces. This Mother’s Day, I...
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Feb 14, 20215 min read
One Year of Love Letters
“I think these are love letters,” my daughter said as she sat cross-legged on the floor of a storage unit that held the last of my...
Apr 20, 20202 min read
Here for the Imperfect Days
My mother died 12 years ago today. I’ve been thinking about her more than usual, which means instead of five times a day, it’s ten times....
Oct 31, 20195 min read
About That Costume (and Trick or Treating)
The only photos I have of my childhood Halloween are the two years I was dressed as a clown. My mother was an excellent seamstress, but...
Dec 30, 20185 min read
Baking Like 1973
I’m a little edgy the week between Christmas and the New Year, trying hard to “take time off” but also feeling a looming sense that I...
Dec 7, 20165 min read
This Time, Last Year
On Friday, I’m leaving town. It’s not the best time for me to be gone because we run a retail shop and it’s almost Christmas. And yet,...
Oct 12, 20164 min read
The Most Important Room: Before
The kitchen demolition at Rosedale started two weeks ago but I wasn’t there to watch since the kitchen really isn’t my territory anymore....
Sep 25, 20164 min read
The Purge (Part One): The Clothes Closet
When I was five, we took our annual Colorado vacation in the hot month of July, and my mother left my packed suitcase with all my...
Mar 12, 20161 min read
Good Boy, Pierre
I absolutely hate goodbyes. Dogs are dogs, I know. They aren’t people and so there isn’t really a need to write a long, sad,...
Jan 8, 20163 min read
Taking the Royal into 2016
I remember the sound of typewriter keys on Saturday mornings. Dad would finish his Sunday school lesson by typing his notes on the old...
Jan 21, 20154 min read
Thoughts on Double-Timing It
Two days before Christmas, I did this to my car. It was completely my fault, and adding insult to injury (actually, my injury was only a...
Jul 27, 20133 min read
Running Away to the Same Place
I’m not much for ruts. I don’t like doing the same thing the same way over long periods of time, but I make an exception for this place....
May 12, 20133 min read
On Mother’s Day: Two Women Remembered
There is a quiet debate these days about the politically correct word for mothers who give birth and then place their child for adoption....
Feb 22, 20134 min read
Another Amazing Woman Whose Genes I Don’t Share
This is my Granny Flonnie – the grandmother with the most sing-song name a kid could ask for. Her maiden name was Cromwell, but do not...
Nov 24, 20123 min read
Dear Erin: A Birthday Letter on the Occasion of Turning 21
Dear Erin, This is your birthday, and I’m writing you an open letter. Yes, I could have done this privately – printed it out and tucked...
Nov 12, 20122 min read
Another Year, Another Sigh.
Well, here we are again. Another birthday for the third and youngest of our children – the now 12-year-old. The clock ticks and she...
Sep 11, 20122 min read
Exactly Two Months After 9/11: New Life
While the world was still reeling and the dust still settling in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, we boarded a plane to fly across the...
Jun 16, 20123 min read
Making My Own Father’s Day Card
I’m a cynic about the card holidays: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. I blame it on the fact that I am cheap, but the...
Jun 8, 20123 min read
The Waves Break: My Deal With the Beach
For no good reason that I can think of, I’ve never been a beach person. There is no beach trauma in my childhood. I’m not afraid of...
Jun 3, 20122 min read
Let’s Grow Old Together
I almost fainted during my wedding portraits. Not because I was nervous, but because I bought a wedding dress that had not one inch to...
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