So we wait to hear the words of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect apprehended for the Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent spree of murder and mayhem. This kid lies in a hospital bed in serious condition with a throat injury, intubated and sedated, while an elite counter-terrorism team stands by to interrogate him the moment […]
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 […]
Recently I participated in a brief exchange on Facebook on the topic of sexual assault. The person who initiated the discussion was upset by the comments following an article at Jezebel.com written by a woman who had been sexually assaulted on the street. Apparently the nature of the offending comments were of the ”I would’ve broken his hand!” variety. My friend’s premise in […]
Some moments from my past are bright and clear and stay in sharp focus in my memory with all of their sensory aspects intact. These memories are like markers between distinct phases of my life. For example, I remember the exact moment I let go of my marriage. The anxiety that had built inside of me was like […]
On Friday I had the honor of teaching yoga for four freshman PE classes at my daughter’s all-girls high school. My approach with these classes was to focus on stress management and self-awareness through some guided meditation and yoga poses. The students came streaming into the room, about 40 in each class, all giggly and chatty. I heard some of the girls in one of the classes coming […]
Several days ago I wrote about how my children witnessed the aftermath of a shooting in our neighborhood. If you want to read about it, you can click here. My kids are processing their feelings about it in different ways. My 17-year-old daughter had horrible nightmares a few nights ago. She dreamt about stepping over bodies after a massacre at a […]
My man, his mother is a dream, a memory, so real to him, and yet so mysterious. He talks about her as if he remembers her well, and then one day with tears in his eyes, he finally tells me he doesn’t know her. Even so, over time and one-by-one he has shared intimate things about his 7 years with her. The […]
