This is the second in a six part blog series about goodbye. In times of tragedy, friends and family say more with goodbye than we could ever imagine. With her final goodbye, Corrie busted up my walls I'd built around me over a period of six years. Corrie was a more social creature than I… Continue reading With my Goodbye, Mom, Your Walls will Fall Down
Month: June 2020
When we Say Goodbye
Goodbye provokes a creative language; almost like the oral version of beautiful Ancient Chinese calligraphy.
Remember Me, Mommy (a Corrie Poem)
“Remember me, Mommy,” I hear her say. “I know who you are, and who took me to all the places. Don’t let your brain go to places or people who were never with me.” To the field or in my dreams, I reply to her, “It just made me mad what she did to… Continue reading Remember Me, Mommy (a Corrie Poem)
The Fears we Can’t Predict and Promises we Can’t Keep
Fear exists everywhere in the world. It's been described in metaphors as the monster under the bed or by Dr. Seuss as the thing under the rug. Fear exists in the strongest of souls. Fear thrives in the uncertainty of what comes next. With the reality of COVID 19, there are many who fear when they'll… Continue reading The Fears we Can’t Predict and Promises we Can’t Keep
If Corrie was There (a Poem)
If Corrie was there, she'd run ahead of Hayes and me in a skirt with sparkles flopping up and down. Sparkles on her skirt were okay, but they could never be on the leggings or shorts that touched her skin. She'd rush ahead to inspect the tables set up by the church for her brother's… Continue reading If Corrie was There (a Poem)
Excerpt from “Be Kind, Rewind,” A Corrie Poem
At any one time, I work on three to four poems about Corrie. I have a memoir essay called "Lessons Home Economics Forgot to Teach" about Corrie. Then there is the memoir, Corrie's Season. How could I have so much to write about with one child and five and a half years? Corrie was a… Continue reading Excerpt from “Be Kind, Rewind,” A Corrie Poem
The Time We Long For
Time. Such a small word for multiple meanings. Yes, it can be defined in so many different ways. Then from it's definition, we have so many questions. For example, time can be the hours, minutes and seconds in a single day. Time might mean how many days until summer vacation. I have seen the twitch… Continue reading The Time We Long For
The Corrie Poem So I Write
I was blessed with a daughter on a day in December when it looked gray and had rained. The nurse wanted to take my baby from my arms and put her in a crib. I cried waking my husband on the couch as I said how "I want to go home." He said we would… Continue reading The Corrie Poem So I Write
So I Write
There are lessons Emily Post, an etiquette author until her death in the mid-twentieth century, never taught us. There are times we rise, or times we fall. Sometimes we sink to our knees and rise again during different stages of grief, so I write. My worst fear about writing poetry, memoir or essay was not:… Continue reading So I Write
The Corrie Effect with Dad
Dads come in all ways. They come in the form of the man who raised us biologically or stepfather. They come in the form of uncles and grandfathers. Some men in communities are molded like a Michael Angelo masterpiece for kids. On A Word or More, I've discussed writing with a purpose. My entire purpose in… Continue reading The Corrie Effect with Dad