NOTE: I’m back! Whew. I had password trouble with this site on & off for months. *This is a post that I originally wrote and posted here TEN years ago!  In retrospect, it still makes sense to me… even as I find myself 10 years closer to the end of the line that I spoke […]

When I moved to the Pacific Northwest last fall, I was unfamiliar with our King County noxious weeds, a group of plants quite different from the heat-loving weeds of the Ozarks from whence I traveled. As I became busy with the details of moving in, getting settled, and getting my life back on track, I […]

Every family has its secrets. I often sat with my paternal Polish grandmother- Babci- at the round oak table in her kitchen, under the watchful eyes of Jesus and his Apostles. (All good Catholics had a framed print of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper hanging in their kitchen or dining room.) We shared a […]

This morning, while cleaning my bathroom, I accidentally glanced at the mirror and realized that it was splattered with a Jackson Pollack spray of white toothpaste dots, which I then proceeded to wipe away. A seemingly normal task. Not so normal for me. I’m one of the many adults and children with a misinformed self-image […]

I can’t pretend to know what works best for growing and healing. I’ve definitely floundered around during my lifetime, trying to climb out of that hole. I still miss my foothold now and then and slide down to the bottom. What I’ve learned is that children who grow up in sheltered circumstances while experiencing questionable- […]

Every single year, since I was old enough to feel the pressure to celebrate it, it’s been the same old thing. Mother’s Day is a Bitch. I can’t ignore it. The pop-up ads from the national florists tell me to Shop Now, Save 25% for Mother’s Day. The television ads for I don’t know what… […]

The First Time I Got Paid for Doing It… for Writing, of course. The United Church of Christ on Main Street had a hall where Ballroom Dancing & Etiquette Classes were held for eighth graders. My mother refused to let me attend. “That’s where girls get pregnant!” she said. Every morning as my school bus […]

I’ll always remember. I’ll never forget. I have truly tried to forgive, and I think I’m almost there, but it’s not easy. Sometimes a storm swirls inside of me, causing me to regress to the terrified child. Then- just as suddenly- I return to shaping the phrases and selecting the words, and I remember that […]

I found myself in a sea of similar sized individuals, in my assigned seat with my assigned school supplies. One fat #2 pencil. Dark blue, not yellow. One black and white patterned composition book. One large pink eraser that didn’t really deserve its name- it constantly called attention to my mistakes by carving blisters in […]

Not too many years ago, when I was teaching Adinkra symbolism to children in the Arkansas Delta, there was a symbol that caught my attention with its graceful design, and caught my heart with its meaning. The symbol was “Sankofa”, a stylized heart with a curvy inside and base. It became my mantra and my […]