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
Category: parenting
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)
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
Save the Tractor and a Wonderful Father
THE world, our choices, are never easy to navigate. Sometimes it seems as if we're put in the driver's seat and told, "Go," when we never learned in the first place. As I write through grief, I've been fortunate to have wonderful support from those who read and who contact me on a weekly basis. … Continue reading Save the Tractor and a Wonderful Father
What is Our Treasure’s Chest? Excerpt from a Corrie Poem
In life, it's easy for us to think we have more time. Think about being sixteen, seventeen or eighteen, and you think: "That can't happen to me." It doesn't matter what that is. I close the door to Corrie's room every night because we used to keep it open, but I open it during the… Continue reading What is Our Treasure’s Chest? Excerpt from a Corrie Poem
Memoir Inspiration: Corrie and Hayes
Great stories take us to a place we’ve never been. Maybe it’s a place we dream of going, but for whatever reason, we’re unable. The Emotion It’s like this. Remember being a kid. If you went on a trip, imagine the excitement just before, and the classic question: “When are we leaving?” Multiply that question… Continue reading Memoir Inspiration: Corrie and Hayes
The Original Easter Letter to my Daughter from 2015
This is the original post I wrote on Easter morning April 4, 2015 as a letter to my daughter. I left it mostly unedited to share again now. from April 4, 2015 Dear Corrie, Two women talk at the park about the latest in little girls' names: Lily. Two weeks later, a woman says to… Continue reading The Original Easter Letter to my Daughter from 2015
Ain’t No One’s Humpty Dumpty
If you read a children's nursery rhyme, something dark crawls beneath its surface. Take Humpty Dumpty for example. He "sat on a wall." Okay, it seems simple."Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."Okay, he fell. So did Jack and Jill. "All the King's horsemen and the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again."It seems simple, right?There was nothing anyone could… Continue reading Ain’t No One’s Humpty Dumpty
Letting Go and not in the Elsa Way
The hardest part of parenthood is letting go. I am learning to let go in more ways than one. I'm not Elsa at the top of the mountain singing the joy of newfound freedom, "Let it go." As a child, I dreamed, however naively, I'd find this great love story and have my own children.… Continue reading Letting Go and not in the Elsa Way
Corrie's Season 