11 August 2011 3 Comments

Present and Accounted For

Writing is tough. Who would disagree with that? But, for me, the least of the difficulty occurs when I’m at the keyboard putting one word after another. And that process can be so difficult that my straight hair nearly curls because my brain’s pushing so hard. What’s even more difficult is getting my butt, brain, […]

4 August 2011 3 Comments

A Happy Birthday

By the time I held newborn Carter in my arms, it was all over. He’d won my heart. But getting there was quite a journey. All I could think about when I saw the photo of my daughter and son-in-law holding a positive pregnancy test was how I was going to look sitting in a […]

7 July 2011 1 Comment

Disability Is What He Makes It

Sky walks around the office scratching on walls. Then I have to rescue him from the bathroom when he pounds the door closed, gets trapped in the dark, and starts howling. I open the door, and Sky’s bright blue eyes thank me. As soon as I sit down to start working again, Sky paws through […]

17 June 2011 0 Comments

Eyes On the Future

I hold my ten-month-old grandson, Carter, in my arms as we stand by the door waving good-bye to his parents for the evening. I’m not strong and find Carter so heavy that I can hardly hold him. Still, I manage to let loose with one hand and wave. I don’t much like doing it. I […]

5 May 2011 4 Comments

Indelible Marks

My mother and I disagreed about everything. Religion. Politics. Women’s roles. Parenting. Fashion. Even cornbread. We spoke on the phone barely once a month and saw each other even more infrequently. Holidays, that was about it. Somehow, we stiffened our spines and got through them. Still, on July 3, 2008, when Dad told me Mom […]

28 April 2011 3 Comments

Diving In

His name was Steve. He was a high school student, handsome, muscular, and tan. Dreamboat. The brother of a friend, and I’d had a crush on him for a long time. All the other ten-year-old girls were looking at him, giggling, and flirting. All I could see were my feet holding tight to the side […]