Six years ago today, I got home from work, and was sitting across from my then-husband telling him about my day when his cell phone rang. At first, I didn't pay a lot of attention, then he said some things like "holy, shit" and "I love you, man," and hung up. It had been his... Continue Reading →
When I was born, my brother David was already in junior high: a 12-year-old boy with glasses, gap teeth, and a sort-of-shag haircut, except not as cool. It was 1973, and his geekiness belied what a heartbreaker he would soon become — after contacts and braces and athletics (plus a better haircut). He already loved nature... Continue Reading →
There is something terribly clarifying about existential moments like the one we're living through. When all of life feels uncertain, we suddenly focus in a crystalline way about what really matters to us. It reminds me of Brené Brown saying, “The Universe comes down, puts her hands on your shoulders, and pulls you close and... Continue Reading →
Anyone who knows me knows I've been an animal lover since birth. I grew up in a house with eight cats, a couple of dogs, tons of fish, turtles rescued from the road, and many rodents. There are countless photos of me as a child holding a furry friend up to the camera, playing with... Continue Reading →
Today the weather was so much like it was 16 years ago today: clear and crisp and full of promise. That feel of autumn just nodding its head, the school year starting, new beginnings. Still, I was tugged back to one of the hardest days ever, because that's what painful anniversaries do. Three hundred and... Continue Reading →
I was sitting at my desk at work yesterday when my phone buzzed — a text from my friend Michele's phone. I'd sent her a short poem in the morning — something I'd been doing for months, along with silly pictures of my corgis or flowers, or little love notes — check-ins to let her... Continue Reading →
It's my brother's birthday again, the day each year when I marvel at what age he would be if he hadn't died — nearly 16 years ago now — from a fall while hiking in the Colorado mountains, and I deeply wish he were here so we could celebrate in person. Nevertheless, I always like... Continue Reading →
When the holidays are approaching and festivities are being planned, for families who have lost a member — which is a lot of us — we often think of the empty seat. Where a beloved person once joined in, a place is now vacant. In my case, it’s specifically the empty daybed at the edge... Continue Reading →
A decade ago, when my then-husband and I were looking for a bigger house in our area, we continually perused a neighborhood about 10 minutes away, specifically one long street lined with 100-plus year old Victorians in various states of repair and disrepair divided by a dreamy esplanade full of maples and crab apple trees.... Continue Reading →
Me and David on his birthday in 1977 or 1978, I think... Every year on this day, I celebrate the fact my big brother was born. And I mourn the fact that he isn't growing any older, since he died almost 15 years ago. Today, David would have turned 62. Sixty-two! An age that, when... Continue Reading →
True Scrawl 