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Getting Over the Hump
This was our first big outing together without her parents. We knew when we asked her if she wanted to spend her birthday with her uncle and Auntie at the zoo, that we had entered a new playing field. At the start of the day, we had a relationship that felt familiar, but it had…
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Playing Catch
Like a pop foul ball that no one tried to catch, his words arced and landed with a quiet thump between them. After a long weekend of working an art show attended by defended and disengaged art viewers, the arrival of an eager and unlikely inquiry felt like medicine for Ken’s beleaguered creative spirit. “What…
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Tripping the Lights… FANTASTIC
My husband and I arrived early to the concert hall and had only settled into our thoughtfully selected barstools for about 15 minutes before her laughter sliced the air with its mocking tone. With a nervous system too highly calibrated for such sounds, I remember my shoulders shooting up and my neck pulling downward as…
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Surface Tension
She vigorously moved the whisk with overt confidence, agitating the mixture as she explained, “I want to bring out all those beautiful, unctuous qualities.” Oooooo, unctuous, what an interesting sounding word, what exactly does it mean? I have always loved learning new words. And for as long as I can remember, I have read with…
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Unspoken Loss
I remember the day well. It began with the smell of worms. I’m not actually sure if worms have a smell, but my 7-year-old mind was convinced they did. I suspect the fact that boys were gleefully harvesting their sickly pinkish-brown bodies and slinging them at us girls had something to do with that association.…
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Mine, Yours, Ours: What Resides Between Us?
Light filtered through the stain glass windows creating tall pillars of color on the adjacent wall and a kaleidoscopic pattern across her head. For most of our time together, she sat among us with her eyes cast downward. With magician like skill, her hands repeatedly swapped a concealed object between them while her shoulders remained…
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Gnawing Sensation
I am certain he had no idea what kind of effect he was having on me. All I know is that I felt like I had been swaddled within a warm blanket of contentment. You would think I am talking about the loving presence of my husband. But no, this was an unfathomable interaction with…
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Where I Meet Us
Do you know what a mobius strip is? Four months ago, while reading a book written by Parker Palmer, I was introduced to the concept. And while I do not feel qualified to speak about a geometric form discovered by a German mathematician; I recently had an experience that felt like traveling a mobius strip. …
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Brittle…Break…Through
I woke up at 3:32, one minute earlier than the more charmed 3:33 that I often awaken to. Despite the fleeting distraction of wishing the clock presented a more favored set of numbers, I was met by the pressing presence of a word ricocheting through my consciousness. Hushed, but urgent, the word “BRITTLE” rang through…
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Not Feeling Myself
I haven’t been feeling myself lately. I mean that in both the literal and metaphorical way. For weeks now, while engaging in activities I typically enjoy, I have found myself feeling flat and robotic. I’ve recently made decisions and matched them with actions that should have carried a sense of motivation and purpose. And yet,…
