Both/And…keeping it real

We can do hard things. Acknowledging both the good and hard in everyday life.

  • Being With….

    (For JKB, EGM and all who need a reminder) Perhaps I have mentioned it before, perhaps not. I am a huge, and I do mean, HUGE, Olympic addict. I credit my parents, with whom I watched the Olympics faithfully as a kid and have continued in my own family. As I was glued to every…

  • Ink…

    Ink…

    I have a multi-faceted personality, if I can be honest with you. I am all sorts of things: introverted and love when I get to interact with my closest circle or those I find a new connection with; both anxious about the how’s, where’s and what’s that accompany my disability and very comfortable in other…

  • Holding my rail…

    “Don’t let go of your rail.” I encouraged last week during a counseling session, to a person who has been enduring emotional abuse for the last 10 years. They have been working so hard on boundaries and I am so proud. As my day wound down, the memories and years I have been giving that…

  • Leaving: saturation, great gratitude and wonder…

    Washington DC/Pennsylvania (Part 7) “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” AA Milne, as heard from Winnie the Pooh. Have you ever been to a place that seeps into your being, because of both the place and the people and the experience with them? THAT was Washington for all of…

  • One last time: the sparkle, white marble and more endless saturation from The Smithsonian, Arlington and Alexandria.

    (Washington, part 6) After our day at the National Cathedral…Nana and Papa went back to the condo and we went back to the Dr. King Memorial. E needed to visit during the day. (To be true, so did I.) How many times have I said, “I’ll never forget,” while writing about Washington DC? (Either too…

  • Saturated…(part 1)

    Though we had been planning for well over a year, our recent vacation to Washington DC snuck up on us because, well, September is September. Maybe it’s just me, but September seems to be right up there with May and December, the two busiest months of the year, at least in our house: purchasing school…

  • “You have solid steel I-Beams, Stace.”

    “Mom, they are going to demolish that building soon.” My son told me as we drove through town. “Yeah?” We were talking about the former municipal power plant building, much of which was already demolished. “Yes, they are getting the explosives set on the beams. The I-beams are the only thing left.” My brain raced…

  • 143

    It was a snowy afternoon, one of those where we as a family had a clear Sunday on the calendar, a truly miraculous thing. Even more shocking to me, as a mom of teens, was the fact that after lunch had been cleaned up, I wandered into the main area of our house and found…