CONNECTING HEARTS THROUGH WORDS
She gave me a wry grin and shook her head. "Is that getting old?" I asked. "Yes," she said, but then her laughter told me she (sorta) liked my little comedy routine. Now that my daughter, husband, and most of us are doing school and work at home, I say, "Drive safe!" and "See you... Continue Reading →
My first overriding emotion was embarrassment. When I heard one say to the other, “It was a domestic dispute,” I felt the blood rush to my face. The emotion immediately following was anger. “No! You don’t understand. My dad has a brain tumor. He’d never hurt us or our mom!” The kind paramedics looked at... Continue Reading →
The stout and stern, dark-haired judge scared the living heck out of us. She fired one question after another, and the sweat beaded on Craig's head. The kind translator had warned us ahead of time not to look at herself but only at the judge when it was time for the translator to repeat the... Continue Reading →
The risk of loving big is that big goodbyes can wreck you. If you've lived long enough, you've experienced it. The reverberating pain of saying goodbye to someone you love. I've been to more funerals than I can count. My beloved father passed away when I was a teen and three more people I loved... Continue Reading →
When I heard his feet hit the floor and his bedroom door open, I knew I didn’t have time to move or hide. I was caught. "Hey!" he said. "What are you doing?" "I'm just looking for something I dropped earlier," I whispered (and lied). He was practically sleep-walking so didn't question, but stepped over... Continue Reading →
Trying to wing the toast at my son’s wedding last May was a horrible idea. Once I had the microphone and looked out at that lakefront ballroom full of cherished family and friends, I felt an uncomfortable lump forming in my throat. When I turned to address the bride and groom, the swelling moved up... Continue Reading →
I sat poolside in this Mexican resort town and noticed a tingling clearness in my head and my breathing start to slow down and expand. It felt like a watch that had been ticking too fast, suddenly being reset to the correct tempo—an invisible rebooting of my soul. I recently heard the soul described as... Continue Reading →
She looked breathtaking in her wedding dress. When her nine bridesmaids danced through the bedroom door to get a first glimpse, many of their eyes filled with tears. They were happy for her and overcome with joy to see their dear friend wearing the gown she'd soon be married in. Hosting the entire wedding party... Continue Reading →
As we rounded the corner onto our street, the anticipation I'd felt for the last ten days couldn't be contained one second longer. In our driveway, I left everything in the car and ran through the snow to the front door, flinging it open. My little boy had been waiting up next to my sister-in-law... Continue Reading →
There's a fine line between joy and despair, laughter and tears, the truth and a lie, life and even death. We should've seen it coming—we already knew we were on very thin ice. Especially after our agency was shut down by the U.S. State Department in December, but, still, we had hope. Looking back now,... Continue Reading →
After I'd kissed and tucked him in, he sat up and said very sweetly, "Mom, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but you smell bad at night. I don't know why ... I don't want to hurt your feelings though." I gargled with mouthwash and put some perfume on. I went back into his... Continue Reading →
She was speaking to a ballroom overflowing with women but, at that moment, it was as if I was the only one there. I saw her final question "What is God leading you to do?" float slowly above me until suddenly, wham, I felt like I was hit over the head. "Adoption." That's what I... Continue Reading →