I had to smile. Lying in bed with Dan last night, Marley between us gently snoring as we talked and dreamed, one of Dan’s relaxing sleep tracks playing, and the soft whir of the fan bringing in the somewhat cooler-for-Birmingham summer breezes through the open window. Ahh, and the katydids! Their full-blown serenade filling the … More This Moment
I can’t get his face out of my mind’s eye; a petite man, painfully thin with a face pinched by struggle and clothes grimy with wear. He was sitting against the wall of the little Southside Market that Marley and I pass every morning on our walk around the ‘hood. The man said something to … More On Chance Encounters
I had a great talk with my therapist a few days ago. I told her that I was yet again in what I can only describe as a frozen place where my anxiety is so intense that even the most mundane tasks feel monumental. I have withdrawn from just about everyone and everything and I … More A Frozen Summer and Writing Therapy
Sometimes I feel set adrift, a castaway on an island in a sea of emotion. Life is both painfully beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Instead of floating weightless in emerald waters of gratitude for my many blessings, I am tossed in the choppy waters of fear that it will all be taken away. I … More Castaway
From where I stand, it is easy to see the flaws of the world; cruelty beyond measure, hunger and violence, want and need- enough to make me weep at the sadness of it all. There has to be balance in life and the thought gives me hope as I can also see good in the … More From Where I Stand
When we’re together, a sparkle of hope and possibility shimmers all around. Your inner child delights, until tears of mirth stream down my cheeks. We are masters of the little often unseen things, as we know that those little things are truly the big things in love. I think of all you do to make … More Together
When in fear I tremble, the unknowns far too many to bear, my bravado drained dry by seemingly one epic battle to the death after another in an endless ballet of karmic missteps. All too easy to feel the weight of the world crushing down on me, with answers always coming, coming, but never soon … More When in Fear
I finally discovered a word that describes my feelings for you; Amaranthine (adj.) undying, immortal, eternally beautifully. How better to express all that our love means, the many ways in which you have touched my life for the better? What a gift in this harsh world to find my twin flame, the one who spoke … More Amaranthine
I was on a dark airplane, finally taxiing toward takeoff and Birmingham after nine hours of a layover in Detroit that wasn’t supposed to be. In a perfect world, I was scheduled to be home by 3:10pm, in plenty of time to walk Marley and settle into being back home with Dan. In my not-so-perfect … More On Appropriate F*#ks
Early each morning before I rise from bed, a snoring Marley curled up next to me, I religiously post three memes, perhaps with nauseating regularity for the people who are subjected to my typically happy-fied Facebook page. My nickname isn’t Poppins for nothing…Two of the memes are meant to encourage or inspire, the third is … More Memes-n-Marley-n-Me
The View from Here 