Today we had a terrible tragedy in our country. I have little to add that isn’t already splashed across the news. May light perpetual shine upon the victims. May their families and friends find some solace at some point. May we as a nation recognize that our strength is in love not hate. May we…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Lessons from the St. Thomas Breakfast Club
Today Ray and I got up early and headed over to St. Thomas Episcopal church to work at the Breakfast Club, our homeless breakfast program. We reinstituted pancakes today after about a 4 year hiatus. We used to have pancakes every breakfast, but a chef came in to guide us in our meal preparation and…
Dinner, 20 Minutes a Day and Pride Weekend
Back in LA. Had dinner with our good friend, David Bode. We talked about music, politics, the desert, friends, church, travel, food, movies , etc. etc. , etc. There is never any end to conversation with David. We are all old friends and have that relaxed, no hurry to go anywhere kind of attitude when…
An Orange Grove Evening
I just returned from taking a hot shower in our shower here at the orange grove. The shower is in a tin structure with two rooms. One is the dressing room where there is a bench and a sink with hot and cold water. The other is the shower room complete with its own door….
Repost: Twenty Years After via Halibun Poetry
The day came when she could no longer contain her anger. She picked up a crowbar and began chasing him around the back yard. The cardinal stared The wind blew hot from the west The sun bore down hard She cursed while she ran. He rushed into the house and slammed the door. She thought…
36 Years With Ray: A Few Things I’ve Observed
Dear Ray, Happy anniversary. Here are a few things that I have observed about how you’ve approached life over these past 36 years. 1) Laugh a lot 2) Be serious about details. 3) Live healthy 4) Love hard 5) Be loyal 6) Own up to your mistakes 7) Listen to good music 8) Relish the…
Learning from a Young Student’s Life Story
Today I worked with a young man who is finishing UCLA and applying to medical school. For his personal statement, he told me about his life growing up in a studio apartment with five other people while his dad worked as a bag boy at a local Asian grocery store. This boy’s grandparents and his…
The Results from My Fitness Trainer
I am sitting in my den and it is 9:02 pm. My goal is to go to bed as soon as I am done here. One thing my wrist UP2 (fitness tracker) is letting me know is that I am not getting enough sleep. This past week I often only got 5 – 6 hours…
Repost: “Seeing” as a Kid
We had dark red linoleum in our kitchen at 902 East 9th Street where I grew up. The pattern had little bricks with gray jagged mortar lines and the bricks were slightly raised, as they would have been if they had been real bricks. The color was almost burgundy, and my parents had that linoleum…
Good Day with Daughter Rachael
I have had a lovely Friday since my daughter Rachael has spent all day here with me today. We’ve had our computers out working on our various projects for several hours now. Ray joined us about an hour ago and he has his computer out as well and is working away. A family computer day……
20 Minutes a Day 