Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Father worked six days a week, and with the exception of Saturday, was gone from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm. Sundays were reserved for family day: usually church, visiting, and a formal dinner. He could be fun at times, but typically he was tyrannical – angry and critical – calling us idiots, useless, and expletives […]
Read MoreWhat an incredible story! Claire Fuller creates characters who are flawed and yet sympathetic. Meet Gil, an aging writer and incorrigible Lothario, who sudden obsession with books leads his daughters to be concerned about his state of mind. Meet Ingrid, his wife who has been missing for eleven years, presumed dead, and whose voice haunts […]
Read MorePermanence is not a quality of harmony. Can’t understand why I should ever hope for such a thing, yet here I am disappointed again, disagreement having chipped away at momentary bliss. Must have been born to please; born not with the usual film of childbirth, but with a bluish red hue of guilt – the […]
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At thirty-one, I had to learn to change my approach to life, because the old way wasn’t working. The old way put me at the center of the family (even though I was fifth born), listening to and attempting to resolve every family issue: Do you think your…
“How do you feel about everything that is happening?” my therapist asked me, last visit. “Good,” I responded, without hesitation. “I feel as if I’m breaking down barriers: embracing life and possibility, despite my illness.” Yesterday, I promised to rest, but there were boxes in the way, and nowhere to sit, so I unpacked one, […]
Read MoreThe house creaks and cracks with such ferociousness, I am unable to sleep. Perhaps it does not like the starkness of bare walls, the absence of furniture, the finality of boxes stacked and sealed. It is my last night here – just myself, a king sized bed and a complaining house. So much has changed […]
Read MoreI write poetry. I play with images conjured up while sleeping, until a message appears. (I describe this process in an earlier post: Composing Poetry. ) I’ve noticed that the dreams, and consequently the poems, will follow a particular theme, and I thought it might be interesting to introduce the poems of a series to one […]
Read MoreI recognized the thump that had startled me as I was settling down to sleep: it was the unmistakable sound of something trying to get into the outside waste receptacle. Damn, I cursed aloud, I forgot about the garbage. The day had been spent in celebration of a granddaughter’s fifth birthday, and I’d collected all […]
Read MoreOriginally posted on One Woman's Quest:
Meditating on the majestic beauty of the trees outside my window, I come to recognize something about myself. I cannot help but think that even though they are symbols of quiet strength, trees are not without their own vulnerabilities. Acts of Nature, or even human folly can bring…
“Was I right about the doctor?” the middle-aged receptionist asked cheerfully as I emerged from the examination room and waited for my next appointment. “He’s very good,” I agreed. I had hesitated to see one more specialist after a history of dead ends trying to get a diagnosis for what was clearly something wrong with […]
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One Woman's Quest II 