The morning is still. Only sound, Golden Retriever eating her breakfast. The winds rage. Insulated walls keep out the noise, bring a hush that breaks the chaos going on outside. My Father-in-Law just got diagnosed with Parkinsons, my sister-in-law lost her family in a car wreck on Christmas Eve years ago… We would be foolish to […]
He stumbled down the frozen road; grey blanket, grey pants, and a sweater matching underneath. The road he shuffled on wasn’t seen by most. Little traffic, overlooking a valley, and open space in the distance. What was he doing there? Where his feet frozen, his exposed hands in below freezing weather starting to feel numb? What […]
It’s the elf’s fault. The one I finally caved too, at Target. The one I had been seeing on Instagram, but wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to… Daily. During Christmas. I mean, who has creative ideas to place some Elf on a Shelf, late at night, or early morning, when your child won’t see you? […]
I was a lonely child. Some days, I even sat, peering past my lace curtains to the black, night sky, hoping to see that star shining back at me. And although I was too young to know some fixed luminous point in the sky was not the Savior of the World… That star somehow gave me […]
“I am the activities director and I don’t see you having an appointment to be here.” The smile-less faces and chilling looks of three women without make-up, greet me behind the counter. “Let me talk to the lady who made the appointment. She is on her way”, I assure her. The sound of a strummed guitar, […]
We just talked about it again, trudging through the Christmas tree farm the other day. Our older two, two decades and more, a boyfriend, my ten and a five-year-old, in toe. Each year, we bring someone different. Is that because they need to know the story too? It was year two of marriage. I remember it […]