My mother needed to stop Dad from tearing the house apart looking for the twenties, fives, and tens she’d gotten when the bank cashed her paycheck but wouldn’t let her open an account without her husband’s signature. It was the sixties, but in the Midwest, in the suburbs, it was still the fifties. I’d getContinue reading “For Women’s History Month: My Hero Mother”
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Sideways
I started out as a nature poet, and one thing I like to do in January is make fun of the sun. Because, as the source of all life on this planet, it’s sideways. The beams are so angled that noon seems like twilight. At no hour does the sun actually make it all theContinue reading “Sideways”
Separation of church & state?
On Jan. 4, in Vermont, Lynda Bluestein somehow had the courage to swallow drugs that would kill her. The point was to die while she could still swallow and before the vagaries of cancer left her a morphine vegetable. She freely chose a quiet death, but word of her death, I hope, will be anythingContinue reading “Separation of church & state?”
Medical Aid in Dying
On Jan. 4, in Vermont, where it is legal, Lynda Bluestein somehow had the courage to swallow drugs that would kill her. The point was to die while she could still swallow and before the vagaries of cancer left her a morphine vegetable. She freely chose a quiet death, but word of her death, IContinue reading “Medical Aid in Dying”
On Her Own
Photo by Jacob Spence on Unsplash “Make it a double,” Dad said to his brother, walking up to the bar in my aunt and uncle’s harvest gold fifties family room. Uncle Hank hesitated ever so slightly, then gave one of his sharp, hearty laughs as he added another shot of bourbon to my father’s glass.Continue reading “On Her Own”
War Story
My mother dampened clothes with a sprinkler bottle, rolled them up and let them sit before she started ironing. My father had a screwdriver for tightening or a hammer for pounding whatever had loosened up over the week as my brothers flew through the house. I came in off the street with salt on myContinue reading “War Story”
The Wind’s Fault
Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash Learning the Palmer Method took everything I had. No matter how slowly I went, no matter how carefully I concentrated on the fat, gorgeous script on the blackboard, my capital letters came out squashed like bread packed in the bottom of a grocery bag. And wrapping your mouth aroundContinue reading “The Wind’s Fault”
Denial, My Superpower
Should you ask your abuser to recommend a therapist to help you get over his abuse? In the psychology field, this is referred to as disassociation. You simply disconnect from an experience that is beyond bearing. But I didn’t forget Monsignor Fitzgerald’s assault. My feeling was more like what would become known as the StockholmContinue reading “Denial, My Superpower”
The Immaculate Conception
The Blessed Mother was celebrated this last December 8 for being untouched by sin. As a virgin, she was also untouched by sex, our Catholic teachers insisted, though nothing in scripture tells us that. For the faithful, sex and sin were extremely close. So when my six-foot Catholic pastor shoved me up against a wallContinue reading “The Immaculate Conception”
Things to be Thankful For: Medicine Coffee
“Give me something that looks nice that I can run in,” I’d said to the salesman at Hawley Lane Shoes. And he did. I had just learned that we had been awarded a four-year grant to strengthen the academic skills of lively but less-than-focused high school students. These students needed to know that if theyContinue reading “Things to be Thankful For: Medicine Coffee”
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