The escape artist

In a house where you are the youngest of six children, it is not unusual to feel invisible at times. And when the older siblings always seem to have some drama for your parents to attend to, you learn to become a keen observer and an unwilling empath. I can still feel the energy in…

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Out of the straightaway, into the curve

I am jarred every time. I can’t get used to it and I don’t think I want to. As I flip through the dating app, swiping left and right as if perusing clothes on a rack, a friend’s ex-husband appears. Oy. Forgive my lack of eloquence. What to say? I still can’t get used to…

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#Grateful

True confession: I wrote this last week and this week, struggled to be as #grateful as I was when I wrote this. But that’s life, right? Here we go: Some days I am so damn grateful. This, despite the Cheerios box that sits open on my kitchen island in defiance of my many muttered warnings…

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A proud patron

Can you guess where Americans go more often than the movies? I know what you’re thinking—and it’s not fast food restaurants or the mall. Instead, it’s somewhere I’ve loved for a lifetime. Libraries. National Library Week just ended in mid-April, so of course my favorite place is on my mind. According to the American Library…

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On Notre Dame, and endings

It was a scene distinctly reminiscent of its fictional twin. I watched a group of people sing “Ave Maria” as they watched, teary-eyed, Notre Dame cathedral engulfed in flames. And I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Who’s in Whoville, singing on Christmas morning despite a lack of presents, food for a feast and…

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Hurricanes and gentle breezes

My eldest son blew through me like a hurricane for nine long months, intent on getting to his final destination—which was, namely, anywhere outside of my body. Not one to be easily confined, he clued me in early to his preferences. Sick for roughly eight of those nine months, I wondered what had overcome me….

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Dancing with Janet

I am in a small, hot room in the middle of winter. Although I look like I’m dressed for aerobics, the (much) older people around me look like they could be heading to the grocery store. Luke Bryan comes through the speaker, telling me what makes me “country.” Thanks, Luke, but I am really not…

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Beyond the ordinary

I’ve just deleted my mother from my cell phone contacts list; this is not as drastic as it sounds. She passed away eight years ago. You might ask what took me so long. And you’d have a point. I’ve written before about my mother being a force of nature. She was a mighty oak, someone…

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No surprise

He keeps surprising himself over and over again. Befuddled by his own success. While I sit quietly on the sidelines, not surprised at all. My youngest, a bit of an Eeyore with a mother who channels a lot of Tigger, generally underestimates himself at every turn. Growing up with an older brother who was not…

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Dust off your crown

“Your crown has been bought and paid for. Put it on your head and wear it.” –Maya Angelou I don’t know whether I want to shake them or hug them. Lately, I’ve been bombarded on social media—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube—with images of women who look like they’re trying too hard to be supple and youthful. The…

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Wonder

You know the feeling when you choose something—a habit, a shirt, a dog—and it becomes a “thing”? Something in the global zeitgeist? Suddenly, it’s everywhere. Yeah, I hate that. Being a bit of a creative type, I choose things that make my soul sing. Or my eyes pop. Or my brain sizzle in the most…

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Own it

Let’s hear it for girls with junk in the trunk. Girls who rock what they got, celebrating the curves, the strength, they bring. If you’ve been hiding under a rock, you might have missed UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi’s “perfect 10” performance last week. She is thriving in college gymnastics, after dropping out of elite gymnastics….

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