Today was one of the first days since diagnosis and treatment that I was able to relax at home with Shiloh, Luna, and the cats. We vacuumed and played with cars and ate scrambled eggs with a side of marshmallows-only from the Lucky Charm’s box. I didn’t have any assignments due for my creative writing […]
I already prepped myself just in case. I got my blood drawn for the Myriad genetic testing lab to see if my cells had a predisposition for cancer – mostly checking for BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutations. I chatted with the tech as she pulled out a fancy bright orange box in shrinkwrap. As […]
I see you throwing loads of piled laundry into the washer – a hopeless endeavor half asleep at two seconds to midnight – the only time you have to do anything dust collects on face creams made to recede wrinkles of exhaustion dishes have piled high but your hands are as overworked as your mind and instead – […]
Somedays, I feel like the ringmaster standing center stage and directing all the monkeys and tigers with a scarlet baton. I wave the directions towards hoops and stages, then bow when the show is over without a hitch as the crowd cheers for an encore. Then there are days like Friday, when I am not […]
I regretted getting the wrong cart. It squeaked and stuttered on the waxy floors of the grocery store. Shiloh jerked the wheel of the plastic car attached to the front of the cart, speeding his way to an imaginary finish line. “Koom Koom!” he cried, announcing to the other shoppers that he was speeding down […]
Like many Virginians this weekend, I got home on Friday to find several yellow-eyed dandelions eyeballing me from the front lawn of our townhome. The day before I spent near an hour wearing a pair of red palmed gloves strangling those yellow weeds and pulling them out of the grass and the flower bed where crimson […]
As a writer and mother who can no longer have any more, it is my deep grieving responsibility to tell stories. Since the moment I saw the double lines on a pregnancy stick, I’ve encountered incredible women who have pressed on through heartbreaking circumstances. I am every, and all, and none of these women. This is a tribute to […]
We all wrote in the middle of the field. The chilled breeze whipped around cotton sweatshirts, backpacks, and used composition notebooks. I tried to keep the prompts light until after lunch, and I’m still in shock I was crazy enough to take all my classes out. On the senior English writing pilgrimage, students sat among […]
