I ran away again this week. I ran to a place on Lake Erie that Paul and I had visited more than ten years ago, because it's the offseason and mid-week and therefore not prohibitively expensive for a place with a little piece of private beach. I sat in one of the Adirondack chairs this… Continue reading Running Away
Category: Life
The Unexpected Grace of Pumpkins
My husband Paul and I took a body blow at the end of one September. We’d had a baby boy in adoptive placement in our home for two months, thinking he would be ours forever, and then one day we knew he wouldn’t. We surrendered him back to the arms of the young woman who… Continue reading The Unexpected Grace of Pumpkins
Ode to the Piano Teacher
The boys have been begging for piano lessons. I want them to learn to play, so this was wonderful. I had concerns, though. I was a little scared of my piano teacher when I was in elementary school. She did not put up with hijinks, and I didn't know from hijinks. Not compared to the… Continue reading Ode to the Piano Teacher
MINE
Some of you are going to think less of me after you read this. I don't care. It's time we talked about this. I don't like sharing my food with my kids. They're sneaky, and they learn it early. They sidle up under your arm at two years old with those enormous dark liquid eyes… Continue reading MINE
Help Keep Levi Crazy!
It's that time again, folks. I will be riding in the CF Cycle for Life fundraiser next Saturday, September 15. If you want to skip all the fol-de-rol and go straight to donating, here's the link. Cystic fibrosis is a currently uncurable genetic disease. Improved treatments and medicines have lengthened the predicted lifespan of CF… Continue reading Help Keep Levi Crazy!
The Dangers of Home Cooking
There is a real problem facing today's home cook that no one wants to talk about. The mechanization of, well, everything means that the candy and cookies you can buy in stores are standard and perfect and exactly the same size every time. While this is good for calorie counters (according to the MyFitnessPal app,… Continue reading The Dangers of Home Cooking
Double Digits
This post is late, and I have guilt about it. I did a post about Elias on his birthday, and Levi's birthday was three days ago now. I started this post before Levi's actual birthday, not that it makes a difference. Levi will forgive me for this without a second thought, and that almost makes it worse.… Continue reading Double Digits
This Is Eight
It's a birthday tradition, jumping on top of Mom in bed at an ungodly hour, and Elias did not disappoint. This is eight. The boundless energy that shows up as blurry limbs in photos. "Mom," he said this morning, quiet because it was early and he's learned some things about his mother, "there are presents."… Continue reading This Is Eight
At the Tire Shop
It’s been an eventful afternoon. I attended a memorial service for a 19-year-old, something I hope never to do again. But I was there with friends, and we sat together, not speaking much but communing just the same. I sat in my car for a bit afterward, cooling off and breathing deep. When I pulled… Continue reading At the Tire Shop
A Goodbye Too Soon
My friend’s daughter died yesterday. She was a college student. I only met her a few times, but she was beautiful and she was smart and she was full of the joy of life. She had cystic fibrosis. Her lungs stopped working. Lots of CF patients have double lung transplants. Some of them have the… Continue reading A Goodbye Too Soon