Running from one department store to another, I tried on dozens of hip outfits, and each one made me feel like I was modeling a Halloween costume. I was talking to my brother on the phone the other day. “How…

I wanted to be able to drive through town, launch my own craft, and dance with the wind once again. I couldn’t dismiss the thought that the little sailboat looked remarkably like a battered mixing bowl. Wide and round-bottomed, it…

That was his mistake because by the end of the day I had caught fourteen bream and two decent sized catfish, and he did not catch anymore. After seven crazy weeks in the house avoiding personal contact with the outside…

Knowing that my friends are going through the same things means I always have someone to talk with about it, someone who knows exactly how I’m feeling. On a Tuesday evening last September, I was at my 10-year-old son’s Boy…

So, as soon as the weather breaks, and there is even a hint of summer, I’m digging out the beach umbrella, gathering up a blanket, packing a lunch into a cooler and I’m heading out for a day at the…

After sorting the nails and screws on the top of the bench, a ray of sun burst through the narrow window of the tiny basement room, illuminating the edge of something wedged between the workbench and the wall. Just two…

The path was stony, littered with manure, and presented many tripping hazards, especially for those of us who were young when Bruce Springsteen was young, which was the whole group. The flight from Cape Town to Kasane was uneventful except…

The past few weeks have certainly been a way to unwind, slow-down, and clean out, while surely being one of the most stressful situations of our lives. “If I only had more time,” “If I could only catch up on…

There was a time when flying so petrified me that I could barely step into an airport, even if I was just seeing someone off. I love to go on vacation. My problem is the getting there. I hate to…

Before David could retire, our church was packed for his funeral. I jerked awake alone in our bed meant for two. Donning my robe, I hurried to the kitchen to make French toast in memory of my late husband David’s…

I couldn’t take the same paths my mom traveled because that would mean acknowledging her choices and agreeing with them. I’m thirteen years old, riding in the backseat of my parents’ Chevrolet Celebrity with my sister. We are headed south…

And then one day it happened. I would be tested to see just how great a Grandpa I really was. I wasn’t lucky enough to have had a real relationship with my grandparents. By the time I was born, my…

We schemed, we triumphed, we loved hopelessly, all the facets of life as set forth by the Bard. The foam swords are non-negotiable. Discount-store toys from years gone by; they reside in the serious, mission-style umbrella stand in my entryway.…

That’s the thing about reading, be it fiction or non-fiction, it flings open a portal into other worlds. On a literary site, Catapult, I read a piece by Michael Venutolo-Mantovani, entitled “In Search of Grandmas.” His essay revolves around his…

Yes, I know, given the state of the world right now, lacking pine straw does not EVEN make the top 1000 concerns I last left my house on Friday, March 13, and truly, I’ve been fine, pulling all those weeds,…

Finally, we had to face the facts that it just wasn’t going to happen the “old fashioned way” and, now pushing forty, our chances weren’t getting any better. My wife and I spent ten years trying to have our daughter.…

While it’s important to stay home and follow the CDC’s guidelines for safety – it’s also important to stay connected. While it’s important to stay home and follow the CDC’s guidelines for safety –it’s also important to stay connected. Sasee…

I surveyed the area again looking for “cute and old” when I realized “the tell.” We were the only ones doing it – holding hands. “They’re so cute. I hope you and I are like that when we get old,”…