Essays + Narratives

If my three daughters hold hands, they almost encircle the trunk of the giant oak we find in the woods. Thirty little fingers grasp the rough vertical ridges of her bark and climb. My eldest, due to start sixth grade in a few weeks, leads the ascent. They don’t get very far, but they try […]

Like most people, I spend my time trying to obtain things. More friends. More shoes. More confidence. More attention. More money. More followers. But the truth is, I am much better at losing things. My keys. My ID. My wallet. My phone. My patience. My peace. Unless we are talking about weight, in most situations […]

And then, in the height of the hustle, when our business was bursting with growth, a quiet conviction came in the night.

Busyness is not a badge of honor.

The words cut straight through my chest where I’d worn that invisible emblem for years. 

Every time someone asked me, “How are you doing?,”  I’d spout the same response: “Good! Busy!”

It was honest, but it was also quietly haunting me. 

This badge I’d proudly pinned to every interaction was like kryptonite, sucking life from me. 

Hustle couldn’t heal my heart. Hurry couldn’t prevent my panic attacks. Success couldn’t stall the years my children were racing through. 

There was no honor in building a life that left little room for living.

We’re clearing out Grandmom’s house. She’s already settled in at the nursing home, reluctantly. I live close by, so I’ve been here all week packing tea cups, glassware, odds & ends—the detritus left behind after inhabiting a place for fifty years. I wrap everything in newspaper, my hands turning black as the tears fall and […]

I unpacked the last box and looked around the living room of the house I’d call home for the next three years. The furniture had fit just fine in the spacious house we’d come from, but felt awfully cramped in here. The curtains I’d packed didn’t fit the windows, either. I’d have to buy new […]

At 12:01 pm, an email arrived in my inbox. It read, “My husband and I have been married for nineteen years. We both entered into this marriage knowing that he was gay, although what that has meant has changed over time. The last couple of years have been extremely difficult. When we began our journey, […]