When I was 16, I knew that in my future I wanted a loving husband and several children. I also wanted a career, since I knew, from watching my mother earn her Ph.D. as I was growing up, that intellectual stimulation and economic freedom contributed to happiness. I saw myself in a helping profession, such…
Tag: family
The Healing Power of Remembrance
Since we recently celebrated Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), I wanted to share an altar I created a few years ago for my best childhood friend, Patricia Butler. At that time, I was taking ceramics classes at Barnsdall Art Center in Los Angeles when my teacher mentioned that the center was planning…
Raising Cane: Lessons from Winnie Waugh
I wrote this a while back, but wanted to share it again in honor of my grandmother. My grandmother, Winnie Waugh, walked with a wooden cane for as long as I can remember. This cane was made of smooth, polished, dark brown wood and was very plain—a simple curve at the top for her hand…
In Conversation with Myself: Work, Marriage, and Adventure
This was inspired by a writing prompt given by one of the colleges one of my students is applying to. It is not a thorough interview, just one aspect. 1) You have clearly done quite a few jobs in your life. Was that by design or did that just happen? I started out as a…
We’re More Than Labels
Today, I did something a little unusual. I was tired and while resting I started mentally listing all the people I knew growing up. I’m from a little Texas town of 7,000, and there were 125 people in my graduating class. Most of those people started with me in first grade and went all the…
Flash Memoir: A Wrecked Model T
The car looked like a Model T, or what was left of it. It was more rightly, the carcass of a Model T with no wheels or tires, no engine, no seats. Only the body of the old car, rusted, bent, and disheveled, like an old woman with too many miles and too much booze. …
First Job, Lasting Lessons
When I was a sophomore in high school circa 1968, my friend and fellow band member, Cathi Wait, mentioned one day in band practice that she was working at McKnight’s Drug Store in the pharmacy department. “I love working there,” Cathy said, “and they have an opening at the soda fountain now.” We agreed by…
Tommy Wizzims and the Kindness of One Boy
I saw Jana Williams, Tommy’s sister, at the recent Bonhi reunion. I wanted to repost this piece in memory of Tommy. Today, I was cleaning out a closet and came across a large envelope filled with clippings and photos from my mother’s house—items I’d received after she died. I unfolded a yellowed newspaper tucked inside…
To My Son-in-Law, Gregorio Pacheco Ambriz, on His Birthday
Dear Gregorio, It’s hard to believe that it’s been sixteen years since you and Sarah met back in 2009, and thirteen since you two got married. That has been an eventful sixteen years, marked by the addition of your three beautiful children and the life you two have created for yourselves and them. You can…
Flash Memoir: A Buick, an Embankment, and Grace
This is a story that happened a few years back right around this time of year. I would say this is the very closest I’ve ever come to facing my dying moment – and killing poor Ray in the process. Thank God for a little Divine intervention when we both really needed it. I have…
20 Minutes a Day 