I am tired tonight. For good reason. I have, as my husband just said, “Been moving junk around from a life I haven’t participated in for twenty years,” aka “Moving my husband’s stuff around, yet again.” The first time that I realized my husband had an inordinate relationship with “stuff” was several months after we…
Tag: writing discipline
Flash Essay: Sharp Edges
We woke up early this morning – 6:30 or 7 – only to discover that our dog had chewed up my husband’s glasses. We found the lenses in many pieces, the earpieces twisted and chewed and we never located the nosepiece. Ray loves this dog more than most humans he knows, so after the shock…
Flash Essay: Hiding Places and Dark Spaces
I have always liked small dark places where I could hide: closets mainly, but when I was little I didn’t mind under the bed or in a cardboard box with the lid slightly shut. I even had a secret hiding place behind a long drawer in my bathroom when I was nine or ten where…
Flash Memoir: Words of Wisdom from My Parents
My parents were very different people. My dad was down to earth; my mother was an intellectual. They imparted collective wisdom that influences me every day of my life. Here are the primary messages I learned from them either directly through their words or indirectly through their actions. My father: 1) Care about people and…
Flash Memoir Prompt: Nils and the Farm next to the Fjord
In the spring of 1975 when I was 22, my boyfriend Nick and I decided we would go to Europe after I graduated from college in June. (He was already finished with school and up for an adventure). The goal was to go for a year and the original plan (or at least the one…
Flash Memoir: November 22, 1963
I remember exactly where I was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. I was in my 4th grade class at Bailey Inglish Elementary School in Bonham, Texas, which is 70 miles from Dallas. I can’t remember exactly how we received the news, though I think it was over the loud-speaker. That seems insensitive…
Flash Essay: One of Those Moments
We loaded up daughter Sarah’s belongings today for her trek back to California. She is driving our long van with a U-haul trailer packed to the brim with her apartment contents. Heading back after three years in medical school in Texas to do her “audition” rotations in CA in hopes of landing a residency in…
Tribute to My Daddy
I wrote this a while back but in honor of my beloved father, I’d like to put it here on my blog today. I was blessed with a fine father who knew the value of love. “Have I told you today how much I love you?” This was a question my father asked me every…
Today One Boy’s Life Was Changed. Thank You, President Obama
I was eating lunch at a Chili’s in McKinney, Texas today when over my husband’s shoulder I saw President Obama’s face appear on the television screen mounted on the wall. The caption read: Obama moves on Dream Act. I tried to read the rest but the waitress came with our check and when I looked…
Texas Border Checkpoint
My family and I are driving cross country from California to our native Texas to attend a family wedding in Austin. This picture was taken an hour east of El Paso. We just went through an immigration checkpoint, where we had to stop and report how many people were in the car. When my husband…
20 Minutes a Day 