The little girl and her mother enter the sandwich shop together, hand in hand. She has clearly dressed herself this morning, as she’s sporting a fluffy tulle skirt over a floral dress and glittery shoes, with accessories galore. She helps her mother order and then finds a table for them. When her mother brings over […]
What to do when you find yourself looking back
Family legend has it that one Christmas Eve when I was very young, my grandfather, with a twinkle in his eye, informed us kids that we were going to the North Pole to get our presents. Without hesitating, I ran to get my coat, slipped my arms into it in record time, and was waiting […]
Forever Thanksgiving
[I wrote this years ago after watching my daughter’s kindergarten class in their Thanksgiving program at school, but I was reflecting on it this morning, how true it still is. My daughter is now a senior in high school. I have been around the block a few times since I wrote it. But it stands […]
When our tulle dreams meet an itchy reality
It was the lightest hue of lilac. The perfect marriage of romantic and playful. Tulle and ruffles, with a hint of a corset. Victorian roots, but with a modern and youthful twist. It was, she knew right away, meant to be hers. My daughter, Kendall, picked out this year’s Homecoming dress back in the spring. […]
What I’ve learned from my collection of picture frames
It always begins with just one. Any collection starts this way, and then grows and grows until those who know you best just shake their heads when they hear you’ve bought another one. For me, it was a clear plastic picture frame with confetti hearts inside. As a teenager, this seemed fun and youthful and […]
The God Who (still) redeems
I was in third grade when I discovered the magic of glasses. It was as if I went into the optometrist’s office as one person, and I walked out as another. Of course, I hadn’t changed intrinsically, but I had been given a new lens (or in this case, corrective lenses) through which I could […]
Life around the lake
They were waiting for us. Everyone was assembled in front of the lake, which was in front of the mountain. Family, lake, mountain. All ready and waiting for us. We arrived at the lodge and texted my family that we were heading out to meet them for the family picture. Greetings were exchanged. Balloons and […]
Running with Dad
Part 1: Running (an essay I wrote in college) The loudest noise is the sound of my own breathing. I kick against the rocks in my way. “There’s Mrs. Gordon’s house,” my dad points out as he jogs backwards so I can keep up with him. We grow silent as we pass the house where […]
All because a stranger waved at me
It was my daughter’s first day of her sophomore year. But even more importantly, it was her first year attending high school in person, after completing her freshman year virtually due to the pandemic. I’m not sure who was more nervous, but it was probably me. Kendall was so thrilled to be going to school […]
Sometimes our job is not to figure it out, but to follow
It was one of those moments. You may know the kind – where you were going along just fine, and all of a sudden, you come up against an obstacle that seems insurmountable. And you are shaken to the core. I was a little girl, playing at the park with my sisters and cousins. I […]
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