With age comes wisdom, and also white hair. My life odometer rolled past the big 6-0 in 2021, and I already had the gray hair to show for it. I’d colored my silver strands for twenty years, and I can see now that I was also covering up who I was. Perhaps even resisting who …
Maybe it would help me hang on to a little piece of him. Despite the sun playing peek-a-boo with the clouds all afternoon, it was hot for early June in the mountains. With the thermometer pushing eighty degrees, and the humidity not far behind, it wasn’t ideal gardening weather. But I felt called to plant—well, …
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 …
What I learned from a dog who was a whole lot smarter than me. I got my first dog as an adult in the summer of 1988. I was twenty-six years old and my husband and I had just purchased our first house. It was a tiny, 700-square-foot bungalow on an oversized lot — a lot so …
What a Little Rescue Pup Taught Me About Pet Parenting, Life, and Love Read More »
I’ve gone through three distinct stages in my memoir writing journey and I’ve yet to find my groove. Stage One: Enrolling in a memoir writing course. When I got serious about writing memoir–and when I say writing memoir, let me be clear, I mean writing a book–I decided I needed to prepare. I enrolled in …
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 »
A heartwarming story about my therapy dog Faith, and her visits with Hospice patients. I’ve been a pet therapy volunteer for eight years. I actually have two certified therapy dogs, both golden retrievers. Hope is ten years old, Faith is eight. Hope has always been my steady, reliable, zen therapy dog. With a perpetual smile …
My Therapy Dog Faith Brings Light to Death’s Door Read More »
Between my husband’s addiction recovery, and our relationship recovery, sometimes I just need a break. I went hiking last week, something I haven’t done nearly enough the past few months. Hiking is one of the main reasons we moved from Southern California to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’ve often quipped that being in nature, on …
