Why I didn’t follow the “gold standard of treatment”–TPLO surgery–for my dog’s torn CCL, and how she’s doing despite going against the vet’s recommendations. “Uh-oh,” my husband said, as Faith came in from her morning potty break. “What?” I replied. “She’s limping, again,” he said. We’d only been home one week from a trip to …
The small but mighty pioneer who inspired me to start my own business This story was originally written and published in Age of Empathy on Medium, in response to a writing prompt: Women Who Inspire, in honor of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023. I don’t know much about her life before I knew her. From …
Women Who Inspire: She Was Only Five Foot Two but She Was a Force Read More »
This essay was written, and originally published, in response to a writing prompt in The Memoirist on Medium.com. The prompt was: Madness (in honor of March Madness). I’m not sure when it started. I believe I can trace the earliest occurrence back to high school. Dad was a teacher and A’s were expected. Maybe that’s …
I walk downstairs and into the kitchen. My husband is sitting at the table with his laptop open and a big smile on his face. As I enter the room, he swings the computer around. A cherubic golden face fills the screen. “Oh my God,” I say. “It’s Hope!” My husband looks at me, puzzled. …
I Found Hope on the Internet. She’s been my refuge ever since. Read More »
I enrolled in an online memoir writing course last November. Twelve weeks. Twelve lessons. All taught by an award-winning, best-selling memoirist. It’s one of the smartest (I’m patting myself on the back!) decisions I could have made. Although I’ve been writing my entire adult life, I didn’t know what I didn’t know about writing memoir, …
I Just Completed a Memoir Writing Course, Now What? Read More »
Hummingbirds are considered a sign, that the spirit of a loved one who has passed, may be near. This story was originally published in The Memoirist on Medium. I first saw the delicate, hand-carved hummingbird tied to the bottom of a birdhouse, hanging in the sunroom. Handcrafted of tightly twisted twigs, the birdhouse was the …
I Asked Dad To Send Me A Sign Before He Died. He Sent Me a Hummingbird. Read More »
Now that dad’s gone and mom is 84 years old and slowly losing her memory, I find myself trying to put together the puzzle pieces of my life. Of their lives. Of how our lives intersected. And, how it all made me into the person I am today. This quest is generating more questions than …
The email landed in my inbox on Saturday afternoon. That’s when they always arrive. Every week, a new chapter released, with video and text lessons, interviews, suggested reading, and of course writing exercises. The subject line read, Writing is Prohibited. I breathed a sigh of relief. After beginning the memoir writing course with an excited …
According to my memoir writing teacher, memoir is about turning our personal stories into art. Art with meaning. Art with a message. Art that heals. Art written in service of others. Art people can relate to and resonate with. Art that provides the reader with a perspective that just might help them in their own …
I’ve written for as long as I can remember. I majored in Journalism in college. But I never considered myself a writer. I was a business person and marketer who wrote, a woman who journaled. I wrote with an agenda: to educate, market, sell, share, and understand and process life. Professionally, I labeled myself an …
