I’m backed into a grove of trees next to the softball field fence. I usually just hang out here while Grace practices for two hours. I read and write, doze a little, cheer a little, maybe listen to a Tiger’s game. It’s hot today, but I’ve rolled the windows down and a cool breeze […]
a lake and an artist date
I slow down as I turn the corner and scan Lake Abby. Something dark floats at the far end. Not a goose. Maybe a mallard. But I can’t be sure. It looks black. I smash forefoot to floor, fly down asphalt, jerk wheel to left, spin gravel in drive, and ram gear into park. When […]
when you’re crushed and broken
It’s just the two of us for dinner. I scrounge up some chicken, left over from the chicken-with-cherry-sauce recipe from A Taste of Laity Lodge. Only for her, I serve it plain with bottled Hawaiian sauce and no cherries and a broken breadstick with pizza sauce. She skips the asparagus. Then she trades the chicken […]
haiti: when it’s time to say goodbye
We’ll say goodbye today. I make construction paper cards before we go. Erica’s brought a printer and given me a couple mini photos–one of Sophonie and me, and one of Chilanchi and me. I stick them to the paper. “Jezi renmen ou,” I write. “Mwen renmen ou.” Jesus loves you. I love you. It’s our […]
belief: maybe we spell it all wrong
He posted the question on Facebook. How many of you honestly believe god is real? I look out at birds perched in stripped branches that in just a couple of months will pop pink. Browns will gush green, the sun will beat warm, and the air will hang heavy with the fragrance of lilacs […]
when you’re breadless, broken, and bitter
Breadless in Bethlehem. The House of Bread battled famine. Yet though she was hungry, Naomi felt full. She had her loved ones. Elimelech, whose name meant “my God is king,” packed up his wife and two sickly sons. They traveled 30 miles to a foreign land to greener pastures. Away from family. Away from […]
31 Days of Coming to Grips with My Age ~ Day 30: When You’re Feeling Weathered and Worn
I saw her for the first time today. She’s sat there for probably 150 years, and I’ve passed her by 150 times–or more. I don’t know what caught my eye on this gray misty day. I don’t know what forced me to halt the Journey half on road, half in ditch and gaze on her […]
31 Days to Coming to Grips with My Age ~ Day 17: I Don’t Want to Lose My Legacy
After she died, we found it tucked in the magazine rack next to the recliner, still encased in its wrinkled manila mailing envelope, its crisp pages blank. Her favorite childhood toy, her most embarrassing moment, how she met her husband never recorded. We’d given it to her two years before. My mother-in-law was the family […]
When You Can’t See the Blessings on the Page
Management had made another decision. “When will you take off your rose-colored glasses?” Suzie was frustrated. “See it for what it is. This is not right. It’s so messed up.” Sometimes it seems a curse, this seeing the bright side of everything, this seeing the good side of everyone. This simple trust, this naivety, […]
In Every Muddy Moment
I aimed and fired. “I don’t NEED you!” All over a pair of muddy boots. The ones I wore to chase wonders down by Lake Abby a few weeks back. The ones that are always in the back kitchen. I’d asked him to wash them off for me. He said he would. Now I […]
