A Communist Christmas

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…

In God We Trust

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…

Just Look For Eden – Chapter Six

The dream I had in the treehouse haunted me, but it didn’t stop me from heading back there every chance I got. Today was no different. It was the perfect day to curl up with my sketchbook, and lose myself in the scratching sound of my pencil, as images leaped from my mind to paper.…

Just Look For Eden – Chapter Five

I was traveling down the long dirt road behind my grandmother’s house when I saw it. It stood alone. It was the prettiest tree I had ever seen, the sunlight hit its branches as though each was lightly wrapped in twinkling white lights. And, nestled in the middle, was a tree house. I wondered if…

Just Look For Eden – Chapter Four

  Shortly after I heard the screen door slam and my mother crank up the station wagon, I went back to exploring the house. I walked the halls, my mind in tune with each creaky step of the wooden floorboards. Running my hands gently over the walls, the banister, I let my thoughts wander to…

Learning To Dance With The Limp

Little by little we let go of loss but never of love. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly – that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp. You never get over the loss of your beloved. They live forever in your broken heart.…

Just Look For Eden – Chapter Two

  “Eden, where the hell are you?” my mom called from somewhere downstairs. I couldn’t tell exactly what side of the house her voice drifted up from as we had only been here a week, and this was by far the biggest house we had ever lived in. When we arrived last week, I had…

Just Look For Eden – Chapter One

  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…

Scars Of Gratitude

  “It is only in the world of objects that we have time and space,” T. S. Eliot Every object holds a value. Whether the value is monetary or sentimental, a material possession is something we can’t take with us when we die. The rational part of our brain knows this and accepts it. The other…

The Lion Who Needed College

Courage looks different depending on where you’re standing. Sometimes you’re the one in need of a little bravery to take the next step. Other times, you’re standing on the outside looking in, wishing you could magically transfer just enough courage to support someone who needs a boost. What does courage actually look like? When my…