Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
I keep dreaming about young men: confidant, seductive, virile young men. In my dreams, they cozy up to me, offer promises of love, and always, I remember who I am – a dried up old woman condemned to disability – and wake up…reluctantly. Thing is, men have always been a mystery to me, like a […]
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Dear Dad, We all gathered together last night at D’s and were reminiscing about your death. It’s been ten years, and funny how we all remember it differently. I say ‘all’ but really there was just D and I, her two sons, and my middle daughter and family. Our family has dwindled away to nothing. […]
Read More“I get hit on everyday at work,” a young mother recently disclosed. “Anyone of those men would be happy to look after me. My husband just doesn’t appreciate me enough!” I don’t know what has motivated this woman to make such a comment, but I fear she is on the brink of destroying many lives. “There […]
Read MoreSometimes ‘aha’ moments come out of the most unexpected events. I think it started with a compliment from my son. He and his new wife had invited the family for dinner last night, and as my husband was tied up all day, Jay offered to pick me up early. “You look nice, Mom!” were the […]
Read MoreMarital breakdown is a catastrophic event for the whole family – one minute you’re driving down the road, all three kids on board, headed for routine activities, and the next you’ve hit a wall of water with nowhere to go but to bail out. You might swerve off the road to avoid going under, and […]
Read MoreI am not always in possession of my own faculties and the resulting anger lashes out, mostly at my husband, whom I hope recognizes it is seldom personal. I hate myself in these moments – not all of me – just the malfunctioning parts. It happens when I overexert myself. Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease is the new […]
Read MoreSome mornings I just don’t want to wake up, I’m having such a good dream. It happened this morning: there I was wrapped in the arms of an unrequited love, discovering what we had missed all these years. G.W., the subject of these dreams, was a high school classmate. He was tall, blond with blue […]
Read MoreThis pedestal of responsibility has elevated me, out of reach, out of touch, lumps together children, mate, mother sister… Caregiver extraordinaire, present overcrowded by obligations, am unwell, off topic, fed up, surely… I am other abled, have room for more, non martyr related, hesitant to plan, my purpose for being so intricately tuned to the […]
Read MoreThere is a woman following me around, stabbing me in the chest every time I go near my husband, so I go off on my own. The pain is too much to bear. “Why are you alone?” someone asks me. “It’s just easier that way.” “Why don’t you stab her back?” “She only wounds me, […]
Read MoreMy aunt gave up her daughter for a chance at love. Can’t remember which marriage it was – there were seven in all – but he didn’t want children, so she just asked around if someone would take M, then sixteen. A few relatives tried, but my cousin, the depths of whose rejection is unfathomable, strayed […]
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One Woman's Quest II 