There are certain phrases you say to your kids, your spouse, your friends that become second nature. Ever since my son, Evan, started playing sports at a very young age, I’ve always told him to LIGHT UP THE SKY. Through the years, in the rare instance I had to miss a game, I would tell… Read More Light Up The Sky
As I watched my daughter’s tiny face inspect the mysterious box, I was overcome with the memories of Christmases past. How could an intangible recollection hold such a physical presence, wrapping me in a warm glow while simultaneously strangling me in an icy dread, especially on Christmas morning? Christmas morning. It wasn’t like any Christmas… Read More A Communist Christmas
I may as well have been standing before them stripped naked. That’s how exposed I felt. The soldiers had announced their arrival with a loud pounding on the front door of our home. A few days prior, my husband and I had begun the official paperwork requesting permission to leave the only country we had… Read More In God We Trust
It’s the kind of day you would light a match just to watch it burn, if not for the drops that would extinguish the flame. Not those falling from the sky, but those traveling down your face. It’s the kind of day you long for the numbness you’ve trained your heart to embrace because… Read More Just Look For Eden – Chapter One
My people have made this long journey numerous times, spanning many generations. This year, the invigorated group consists of approximately forty to fifty teenagers, ranging in ages thirteen to sixteen. The pilgrimage is led by Abuela Edna, a sixty-five year old stout woman who is as strong as she looks. She’s not everyone’s grandmother, but… Read More Soul Finding Journey
“We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, and filthy rich or dirt poor. And to those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, or who could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you can sing like Barbara Streisand or like our priest, who can’t… Read More Imagine A World…
I watch them from the back of the church as they gather together, looking unsure in their black suits and dresses – attire fit for a funeral. It may actually be their first. I’ll have to remember to ask later. Teenagers are meant to attend basketball games, concerts, homecoming dances. I guess this is… Read More Fallen Bridges Are Rebuilt With Broken Hearts
Darkness in light. Light in darkness. Silhouettes of what used to be. Time stands still. Minutes speed past. Unaware we remain. A state of chaos. A need for peace. Trapped within our own fear. Lashing out at what we don’t know. The world turns on its axis, yet makes no forward progress. An endless spin… Read More Broken Not Bent
Vision. We all have one. “If you can dream it you can do it.” – Walt Disney Whether we’ve played it over and over in our minds on an endless loop that comforts us in much the same way our favorite throw blanket wraps us in warmth on our spot on the couch. Or, it’s… Read More Resolutions Die, But A Vision Lives Forever
