Eleven years ago Tom and I were anxiously waiting to hear about a brother and sister that needed a new home. We were hoping ours would be the best fit for them. In July we got the happy news that our family of three was about to become a family of five. We knew there would be challenges, but we were […]
Maybe it is just that I lived for so many years with Tom, but I’m finding being on my own (so to speak) to be unfamiliar and even scary territory. I had a bout of pretty bad vertigo awhile back and there’s nothing like being incapacitated to make you realize just how vulnerable you are. For the first time in […]
It’s been a weepy kind of day (which I guess is sort of appropriate considering the gray, drizzly weather we have been having). Last night I caught my son in the act of being particularly ugly to his sister during family prayers. I lost my temper, and then when it was all over, I lost my composure. Why do I […]
Talk about dislocation – try meeting up with college roommates, camping out in a dorm room, and attending classes at the university you attended two decades ago (and then some). There’s nothing like it for making you think you’ve somehow jumped back in time – darn all those changes on campus for reminding me that I haven’t really time-traveled! Last fall […]
I remember looking up at Tom perched on the boulder that I needed to scale to get out of the slot canyon we had clambered down. He was reaching his hand down to haul me up and I just couldn’t take it. I was petrified that he would drop me or that I would drag him down. He kept reassuring […]
So, I’m terrible at taking before pictures… But I have some after pictures of the master bathroom makeover. A little background. Our master bath is a little “L” off the master bedroom. Originally there was a half wall between the bathroom and the bedroom. There was a standard cabinet with a pink Formica top, and broken drawers (one of which […]
I tried to give Tom’s phone to Spencer last week. They have the same phone and Spencer’s has been acting up. But when it came right down to it, I didn’t want to lose that connection to life as it used to be. My phone is linked to his with all our texts. His email accounts are there … It’s […]
Back in 2011 I waxed lyrical on the joys of road trips. I recently reread my blog post and I still think I captured pretty well the joys I have found over the years “on the road”. Yet this past week as I prepared to make the trip to Monroe, I found myself anxious about the drive. Last Labor Day […]
We are at six and a half months and I find myself in another wave of grief. It’s a dichotomy, grieving, at least for me. On the one hand, I want to cope as well as I can with my altered circumstances. On the other hand, if I’m coping too well, then I start to worry – “why aren’t I […]
We always talk about not comparing ourselves to others, but the truth is, it is difficult not to. And there are all these handy articles and checklists on how to do just about anything the “right way” (never mind that there are a hundred different “right ways”). By most standards I’m a pretty ineffective mother. I’ve got a kid who […]