Farewell to the decade I entered as a woman-child, fancying myself far more worldly and grown than I had business believing. The same season that made me a mother two times over – three if I count the day we went to the Humane Society “only to look.” A time when I blissfully made fewer…
Category: Essays
Running Mix Rewind
When what’s pulsing out of my earbuds has some pep, running becomes a lot more enjoyable. Or, in the parlance of my friend A, wogging. I’m working my way up to longer distance running, but it’s no easy feat. And this mix, with 16 songs clocking in at 1 hour and 1 minute, ramps up…
I donated for the first time today, and this happened.
“People need a lot of blood.” Those were the words from my friend in Houston, a no nonsense physician and mother, when I asked her for a straight answer about local needs post Harvey. One scary step beyond offering assistance from within my comfort zone, and a marked departure from the default response, “How can…
Don’t let the Muggles get you down.
So wrote a Twitter user, in the aftermath of a viral article I wrote last fall about football game attire. They didn’t. Not when they wrote that I looked like I wore a size 6x, not when they called me a bully, and not when they said I needed a burka and a one way…
We ask time to slow down. Why not savor what’s to come?
Today you turn eight. I would allow myself to wax sentimental about that, but why? Every day, I catch another glimpse of the person – the woman – that God ordained you to be. And it takes my breath away. You are gentle, and curious, and compassionate. Inclusive to all, and the first to encourage…
Southern accents and kindness between strangers.
I love traveling light. Give me my laptop, the bare necessities clothing and toiletry wise, and send me on my way. It’s how I did Chicago this week, and it made the four block jaunt between my hotel and the CTA Orange Line a breeze. I could have easily taken a cab, but to quote…
Instead of complaining, do for others.
As half glass full as I choose to be, certain moments are absolutely anti sunshine and rainbows. No two ways about it, adulting is hard. When those times arise, I think of the mother of a lifelong friend and as salt of the earth as they come. These words – “instead of complaining, do for…
See the doctor.
When we seriously contemplated our move, leaving our cocoon of trusted doctors was on the list of reasons not to go. Thanks be to God we’re a fairly healthy family, but bedside manner is a very real thing, and not all doctors have it. In Birmingham, I had the added peace of mind of being…
Make kindness ordinary.
My 39, Day 13. Ever pulled up to the Starbucks window only to be told you could put your wallet away, because the car in front of you had already taken care of it? It’s happened to me, and many others I know, prompting us to post a positive proclamation of this random act of…
Donate good stuff.
My 39, Day 2. My friend Molly, who I met at Alabama when we both attended RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) is a love big, live out loud kind of person. She’s as thoughtful as she is thought provoking, and she was spot on when she not too long ago questioned the quality of what people…