“Why do you always wear black; you look so much better in colours.” Then when you wear colour: “You look like your mother in that outfit. I prefer you in black.” “You’re not going to eat that, are you? A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.” “You know if you loved me […]
It’s been abnormally cold in Texas, and so we’ve devoted a few days to finishing up the interior painting we started last summer. (Yes, procrastination defines us.) Yesterday, the temperatures were back up in the double digits, so we set out on the golf cart and toured the property looking for birds. Just a […]
His name was Almost, but we called him “Not Quite”. He was tall, all awkward elbows and knees, as only a sixteen-year-old can be. Wore his hair neatly cut, unlike many of that time. He had dark, brooding eyes and a hawkish nose, and he was my boyfriend. We were both cast in the high […]
Before illness, I counted days and hours, not out of drudgery – I had stretched myself beyond normal limitations. Before illness, I wore responsibility like a hero and defined by work, prioritized tasks above well-being. Before illness, I joked about the disabled, lounging around, living the life of leisure, usurping the system. Before illness, I […]
“Varnish” I said aloud, rolling the word over my tongue as if we were new acquaintances. “What’s that you said, Mom?” My daughter, breezing through the kitchen, found me standing at the counter, gazing out the window. She was gone before I could answer. They were used to me by now, my family. How long […]
Never understood it when Dad called me cheeky as a kid, although I always recognized a tone of approval. Then I saw it in my own children: that look of sheer defiance that melted my heart every time. This photo of our youngest granddaughter exemplifies the epitome of cheekiness, don’t you think? (In response to […]