Dear Mother,
I should’ve cleaned your fingernails before you died. I know dirty fingernails never bothered you, but in that last photo I took of you where your hands wrap around the ceramic mug of fresh coffee I brought with real cream, instead of the styrofoam cup of instant with powder packets you’d been getting—-in that picture the gleam is back in your eyes, feisty again, but a dark, dirty rim lines each fingernail. I regret not offering to clean your nails, but at the time it didn’t occur to me. You had lots of life left in you. You could’ve cleaned your own fingernails….
May is a Mother of a Month
17 years ago today, at age 47 1/2, I gave birth to my third daughter, our six child.Somewhere along the line we realized May 1 is my 1/2 birthday (and Nov. 1, is Arielle’s 1/2 birthday). This is a child who loves to celebrate, and a child we love celebrating. at the wedding reception for Marie & Jerome in Burgundy France, 2023 Today, after birthday dinner and opening gifts, including 9 sketchbooks because she loves to draw and ran out of sketchbooks last week, she reviewed her life in pictures on my phone. She commented on our many trips together- Iceland, England, Germany last year, France several times… so many good times together, but all too soon it will be time for her to leave home. 17 begins a countdown to adulthood, graduation and college, and/or possibly marriage. Her sister, our middle daughter, is getting married at the end of…
Paper Doll Mom
This is an excerpt of a flash memoir piece I recently wrote. What artifacts do you have that might spur on your writing? It’s a fun way to play with items you’ve been left with while reminiscing through the past, bringing life to your present work.
A long and winding road in Tuscany painted by the author
Dream Travel
We put together a DIY writing retreat in which we will meet up at her family home in Brittany and work on our novels for a week.
Would I lie to you? (Hana Oliver/ Unsplash)
The Jesus Chicken
When your kids say funny things, do you write it down? When they leave home you could hand them a book about themselves- a journal you wrote.
Hue of Memories
The text from my sister left me shaken. The past I thought I knew unravelled a little mo
On Other Mothers, T-shirts, and Thankfulness
Motherhood is terrific and terrifying and wonderful and woeful and we need all the help we can get.
Who are the other mothers in your life, helping you find your way? Have you thanked them lately? May is a good time to do so.
Sentimental Lady (May the fourth be with you)
Music has the power to bring us back to any moment in time from the past. It’s like a time capsule that can be opened by a few simple notes.
the blueberry baby
The Blueberry Baby
Have you ever told stories that later came true? Or have you ever listened to other people’s stories and felt you somehow absorbed them, changing your life forever?
Another May Down
…there is something about writing a personally challenging piece (on motherhood, of course) that feels deeply refining, like fire.