emotions – Things I've Learned Along The Way

Life, Death and Books in 2022

I keep a list of books that I read each year. In 2022, the list is linked to the life and loss of my mom.

In Memoriam, In Person

At a memoandemic losses were compounded by not being able to gather to in community.

I almost got in trouble for reading too much when I was in nursery school at Washington State University where my parents taught. The school had student teachers whose job it was to observe children’s interactions. After I had been there three weeks, the head of school called my parents. She gravely informed them thatContinue reading “Book Life”

The nature of things

Words can’t explain it: Sky, tree, river, valley, mountain. I pen letters in packages Of three, four, five, six, seven, Yet they fail to adequately capture Wonder A universe that lies within Stars, soil, atoms, quarks, Things yet to be uncovered. But the insufficiency of language Will not prevent me From attempting to express TheContinue reading “The nature of things”

Coyote

Between dark and light, As the owl sings its melancholy melody, You appear. First formless, Then my eyes discern your shape, Gray against gray. I freeze. You still. Our gazes lock. I wonder at your lush tail, your vulpine visage. You size me up, ready for a challenge. Something wild and untamed moves within me.Continue reading “Coyote”

Finding the words, finding my voice

I posted a piece a few weeks ago, a letter to my 25-year-old self. I got some very positive feedback from people. The only person I didn’t receive positive feedback from was me. It took me several weeks before I could bring myself to hit the “post” button. “Who cares about your 25-year-old self?” AContinue reading “Finding the words, finding my voice”

A moving experience – dismantling a life

August, 2018: Earlier this year, I helped my mother and stepfather move from a house they had lived in for 20 years into a retirement community. I flew from Florida to Seattle and spent five days taping together cardboard boxes, filling them with possessions, marking them with sharpies and stickers so the movers would knowContinue reading “A moving experience – dismantling a life”

Dear Younger Me

Dear Younger Me, I am standing outside the apartment building in Washington, D.C., where you lived 27 years ago. You had just turned 25, and you were young and married and looking for your first job. You had been working in D.C. for about nine months, in internship positions. You had two cats in theContinue reading “Dear Younger Me”

The Tree

Every now and then when I am outdoors walking down a random path, a branch will catch my eye and remind me of my Tree. I haven’t seen this particular tree in almost 45 years. I remember few things about the catastrophic illness that nearly took my life, and it is possible that the treeContinue reading “The Tree”

2018: A year of questions

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” — Zora Neale Hurston For me, 2018 has been a year that asked a lot of questions. My husband Curt and I changed jobs, moved across the country, lost his father to a stroke and said goodbye to two beloved pets. We joke that theContinue reading “2018: A year of questions”