I was wearing a flowered shirt when my sister told me that our mother was dying. I was definitely wearing something on the bottom half of my body — possibly a denim skirt — but only the shirt is there in my memory, vivid and bold. I’d never worn it before, and had hung it… Continue reading The Flowered Shirt
Category: Family
Goin’ to the Chapel
Our family hasn’t been to church in person since mid-March. This is mostly about COVID, but partly about me and my issues. Nothing makes me want to quit church forever like a presidential election year. 2020 is a presidential election year on a high-octane cocktail of speed and steroids, and not going this year has… Continue reading Goin’ to the Chapel
Pillows
My current decorating strategy, as anyone who has visited the house knows, is just to hang on until the children move out, and then start over. I don't see much point in buying nice furniture that is going to suffer various protracted indignities, and I gave up on the living room carpet long ago. But… Continue reading Pillows
And it came to pass …
Over the years, my mom told us this story from time to time. Often when things looked grim, but sometimes just because it made her laugh. It was one of her favorites. It was probably in the Reader's Digest, and it's almost certainly apocryphal, but I thought of it this morning as I was driving… Continue reading And it came to pass …
That Hat
I was in the grocery store checkout line when a woman caught me eyeing her husband. She seemed curious rather than irritated, but I figured I should explain myself. “That hat,” I told her, nodding at her husband. “My dad always wore a hat like that.” Her husband turned around and smiled. “Like this?” he… Continue reading That Hat