Several months ago, my husband and firstborn were almost hit by a car. They were walking to our vehicle after a baseball game, and the woman who was backing up didn’t see them. My husband picked up our son, moving him out of the car’s path, and braced himself for impact. Thankfully, the woman saw them at the last second. She jumped out of her car, hysterical and apologizing. My husband remained calm, telling her they were okay. They drove away from that night safe, but my son was never Continue Reading
Crushed By the Weight of My Expectations
My turn to share was coming, and I wasn’t ready. While the other women on our Google chat discussed their writing goals, my mind spun on repeat. Summer gave this word a whole new meaning, and I was still processing it. Ah yes, goals. What were those again? My goal yesterday was to keep the boys playing outside for more than twenty minutes before they came back in screaming from bloodied knees and bumps on heads. Today it was to make it to bedtime without yelling. Sometimes my goals vary by the Continue Reading
When You Can’t Escape Your Past
“Are you a pagan?” I sat in a body-piercing studio with one of the owners gazing at a tattoo displayed on the nave of my back. It was a gnome, sitting on a mushroom and playing a fife. Everything about it screamed pot-smoker, hippy and apparently, pagan. And to think I got it because I thought it looked cool. To me it said, “Outsider,” a label I gave myself during my younger years. The man’s question caught me off guard. I was twenty-one at the time and wasn’t sure who I was, let alone Continue Reading
