Lean On Me
I took my son to see his specialist the other day. While we were sitting there, he played with his Lego men and another mom sat reading a book to her son. Across the room, a couple held their daughter and made little jokes. It’s unspoken that we’re all there for a reason—our kids suffer from some sort of gastrointestinal illness. As we pretended we were there for ‘normal’ reasons, a woman entered, pushing her disabled young son in a raised wheel chair. As soon as the door opened, the boy made himself known. He wailed in a most heart-wrenching way. As she checked in at the receptionist’s desk, his wails grew louder, more intense. He sobbed, screamed and then began a rasping gag. I surmised he had lung issues, with whatever other health issues he had....
Read MoreQuitting Time
A sharp horn sounded behind Mary as she headed up the steps to her duplex in the hot May sunshine. She turned towards the older model Buick, unable to see who was driving the car, but gave a friendly wave. As a rule, she waved to anyone. Fairly certain the father of her grandchildren belonged to a gang, she wanted to stay on good terms with everyone in the neighborhood. Tossing her keys on the antique stand near the door, she entered the kitchen and opened the freezer. Inside, she found a frozen glass mug that she filled with ice and edged with a lemon slice. She stepped through the back door and retrieved a large jar of sun tea off the back stoop. It’d been brewing since 4AM, when she’d left for her job at the Dollar Mart—just about ten hours of steeping....
Read MoreWishing You Were Here
The past few years have been a struggle for my family health-wise. I’ve shared as much on my blog. This has made it hard for us to take vacations. But a couple months back, we planned one down to northern California, to see a good portion of our family—one of those being my Granny who, at the age of 96, was declining in health. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there in time, but were able to attend her memorial. And while I love to write and do pretty well with my fingers on the keyboard, I’m not much of a speaker. I mean, I do fine—but it’s hard for me to talk in front of people, and especially difficult during such an emotional time. So, I waited until now. I’ve been very blessed to have a number of grandparents in my life. I have four parents (due to...
Read MoreWhat’s Love Got To Do With It?
Happy Valentine’s Day. Now, I know that the validity of this day is often called into question by naysayers who claim the greeting card industry started it all—but if you do a bit of research, you’ll find it was first founded by a pope to honor Christian martyrs. Then, in the 15th century it turned into a day to honor loved ones via gifts of candy and notes. And THEN the greeting card companies got into the game. So, people get all worked up about how it has to do with marketing and…well…it probably has a lot to do with it. After all, candy sales go up, and so do flower sales. But, it’s also a good excuse to tell loved ones how much they mean to us. When I was in high school, my school sold roses on Valentine’s day to make money for programs....
Read MoreComing in June
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