parenthood
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To love a child
If you could relive a single day what would it be? Today, a week after my son’s wedding, I’d chose a magnificently ordinary day: He would be 5 or 6, young enough to still call me Mama. Old enough to ride bikes to the Library. Past Jefferson School. Past the Brunner’s house. To the downtown library where we’d rifle thru the cubby of new books and admire the fish. Afterward, we’d stop at Tess’s Twist across the street and spin on the twirly stools while we slurped ice cream cones. The outdoor counter service ice cream shop has been long gone and, incidentally, the property now boasts Father’s Fats where…
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I blinked
Wasn’t it yesterday that we forgot the chicken in the microwave? That day when the nurse called to tell me that my strep test came back negative, but my pregnancy test came back positive, and in our delirious excitement we neglected the chicken thawing in the microwave for dinner, forgot about it until breakfast, and went out for celebratory pizza instead? Didn’t that just happen? Wasn’t that baby just born, that sweet pink baby that kept us up at night, that toddler with the infectious laugh and lively eyes, who learned to ride a bike, then mow the lawn, then shave? How can it be that, days ago, we dropped…
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Just Keep Writing, Writing, Writing
When it comes to writing, I’ve been in a literary desert. It’s been months since I’ve written anything beyond a grocery list or Facebook status and even though I’d like to think I left it all on the field to get The Ground Beneath Us finished and released last fall, that’s kind of a convenient excuse. It’s not writer’s block. I’m not out of ideas. In fact, my head feels too full which, I’ve found, can lead to a mental paralysis of sorts. What’s ink worthy, what’s not? What should I write about, what should I keep to myself? This has been a season of concentrated processing of all sorts…
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Dad’s Turn
Dads don’t always get their due praise. Singing the praises of Mom seems to come easier but fathers… Dads… hear me loud and clear: you are irreplaceable. You are immeasurably influential. So for all the dads out there, including my dad and my husband… thank you! Allow me to sing a few praises to my dad: Dad ignited my love for stories. Early on, he both read and made up stories, (his best entitled “The Laughing Dragons”) complete with voices and sound effects. On a car trip once he began telling us a story that went something like this: “Once there was a brother and a sister, and their father…
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Greeting Cards Don’t Say It All
Mother’s Day comes with a difficult mission: finding a greeting card for your mom that falls somewhere between pure sap (You are the perfect mother in every way on every day, and everything you touch turns to gold….) and a groan-inducing, dog-on-the-front brand of humor. Often I forgo Hallmark, pull out the scrapbook supplies, and forge my own. Not only does May hold Mother’s Day, it also contains my mom’s birthday. So in honor of May, in honor of moms everywhere, here’s my tribute to my mom: Ten Really Cool Things About My Mom 1. She let her children be children: Saturdays meant sleeping late and watching cartoons. We did…
