Societal Growth
Small change, huge growth. (The Daily Post photo challenge prompt is growth. Photo taken at Buxton Hall in Ashville, NC.)
Read MoreMaybe
Two years ago, I was barely able to get out of bed. Two years ago, I wondered if life would ever get better, or if I was doomed to a future of isolation and deprivation. Words were the weapon I employed to battle my way out of the kind of depression that accompanies debilitating illness. […]
Read MoreThe ‘C’ Word
“I sat in the waiting room, naked from the waist up save for the hospital green awkwardly tied in front. This was a call back: not the kind you pray for after an audition. “In nine out of ten times, it’s nothing,” the voice had said over the phone. She added they wanted to do […]
Read MoreRV-Able: For The Birds
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 […]
Read MoreNot Quite
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 […]
Read MoreStalking is a Crime
I’ve been stalked several times in my life: by an acquaintance of a former husband, by a fellow student at university, by a man I’d met at the Y, and by a former partner. In the first two instances, I was naive, and only when the situation escalated did I become concerned. I confronted my […]
Read MoreConfessions From the Sickbed
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 […]
Read MoreRV-Able: Quinta Mazatlan
Lured by the promise of a rewarding birding experience, Ric and I decided to take the drive to McCallen and check out Quinta Mazatlan. As usual, I worry about the amount of walking involved when visiting a new locale, but we were reassured by those in the know that there is a house on the […]
Read MoreA Story and A Wish
Table six in the fourth floor dining room at the long-term care facility is a favourite with the staff. Ninety-eight-year-old Dorothy leads the pack with her no-nonsense attitude. Beside her sits Verna, just eight years her junior, who always has a smile and a kind word for everyone. Carole is the junior member of the […]
Read MoreOn the Anniversary of Your Death
I write to you often. Does earthly mail even translate into the afterlife, I wonder. The distance between us, I find, only leaves me with more questions. Perhaps this is the byproduct of objectivity. It’s been twelve years, Dad, and so many things have changed, and yet, still the after shocks of your presence continue. […]
Read More
One Woman's Quest II 