Motherhood is daunting. No matter how many coats of denial and idealism one whitewashes it with, it is a formidable journey and it is not always easy to stay convinced of the delightfulness of the upbringing and management of the fruits of our genetic entanglements. Life is up and down, and take-it-as-it-comes, and full of […]
Category Archives: family
The flyer reads “Celebration of life”. The young caseworker who knew Werner’s father briefly at the end of his life is in charge of this event. On the phone beforehand, she tells me she has only worked here for a short time, and before this, she says, she worked with teenagers, so this is new […]
Most of us have a youthful time in our lives that we look back upon fondly, even if it was fleeting or fraught. This period in our life is often characterized by experimentation, falling in love, creativity, or travel, but mostly by a sense of unbridled freedom and a feeling of endless possibility. This time […]
Yesterday my partner Werner and I visited the small apartment where we are told his father has lived for the past four years. Werner’s uncle called a week ago to tell him that the medical examiner’s office was looking for him because his father had died. Werner was apparently the only known next of kin. […]
There’s a story a man has told for most of his life. He has changed the story to suit himself as he’s grown older and wiser and gained life experience. He knows the story intimately, yet he doesn’t really know it at all. While he believes in his story, he is aware that it could […]
“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?” – Rumi I had an unpleasant New Year’s Eve. Perhaps it was that I had just fallen back to earth with a resounding “thud” from a happy high of holiday bliss which included delightful time spent with my sweetie and children, and my family and old friends. Perhaps it was […]
It is a hard time of year. The darkness seems to gather momentum as the solstice looms. These shorter, colder days amplify challenges for those who are suffering – the mentally ill, the homeless, the unemployed, the grieving, the addicted, the poor, the recovering – in other words, all of us in some way or another. […]
…or your man, as the case may be? I have some great ideas. This post is inspired by my magnificent friend Le Clown over at A Clown on Fire who enlisted my help with Bloggers for Movember. And since I am, like his beautiful wife Sara who blogs at Laments and Lullabies, a procrastinator, here is my 11th-hour Movember men’s health […]
To express my heartfelt gratitude for old white men, let me look no further than my own sweet father. He is 73, which I suppose makes him old-ish by young people standards. My dad is, hands down, one of my favorite people in the whole world. He is quite traditional in many ways, one might even go so […]
When my first-born son was in fifth grade, he began having major issues with the idea of going to school every day. He made it through that school year which was not coincidentally a time of challenge for our family. His sixth grade year got off to a rocky start and continued along that trajectory for the duration of the school year, and he begged his father […]
