Tag Archives: trauma
Sitting on a Phone Book
“Can I say a bad word?” At least he asked permission. “If you really have to, go in the bathroom and yell it into the toilet,” I offered tentatively, still trying to get a handle on this fine art of parenting. “What the hell….” I heard a soft, almost apologetic version of this “bad word.”Continue reading “Sitting on a Phone Book”
No Elderberry Tree
“Mom, why are you crying?” His question came from a place of innocence that I feared was about to fade before my eyes, which could no longer contain what I knew. “Because she loves you,” said the nurse softly, gently, poignantly. I knew it would be different this time, for so many reasons. So I’mContinue reading “No Elderberry Tree”
Tie Me to a Tree
The six year old practices every bad word he knows in one long stream, shot directly at my quiet request to put on fresh underwear. Three days seems a little long for the same pair of boxers…even during e-learning. “Home is their haven.” These were words that I shared more than once or twice overContinue reading “Tie Me to a Tree”
New Garbage
She remembered things differently from what I could recall. Seasoned in some ways, I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. Despite our proximity, there was a lot in the way. Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. –JoshuaContinue reading “New Garbage”
Dearth
“Mom, why is your garden really empty right now?” The words of my five-year-old came from a place of curiosity. The corn stalks that had poked skyward for many months had been cut. Lemon cucumbers no longer hung along the fence posts like bright lamps strung for a party. He had noticed. He wondered: why?Continue reading “Dearth”
Strip Me Bare
Last year, they were probably heard screaming through to the second floor of the clinic, and there were fights…battles…battles that they did not win. No one did. A friend shared a link on social media yesterday, and I read every word, as often I do when this particular friend posts things. If she finds somethingContinue reading “Strip Me Bare”
re: Peaches
As we pulled up the long drive to my friend’s house, we were greeted enthusiastically by a little girl, the picture of sunshine, wielding a squirt gun and pulling the trigger as she announced that she was giving our car a wash which, indeed she was. We had come to buy a few jars ofContinue reading “re: Peaches”
Let Me Be Your Lesson
“Everything is either a blessing or a lesson.” Who was it that said that, anyway? Maybe, some things can be both of those at the same time. Perched on top of the hill at the edge of my grandparents’ property, my brother, my sister, and I spent strings of days looking out onto the St.Continue reading “Let Me Be Your Lesson”
A Chicken Gets Her Wings
Love, young love, I hope you are well. At least we now both Have a story to tell. —Keaton Henson, “Sarah Minor” I should have known by the way she spun in a circle as she moved among the pine shavings, even somersaulting as she crashed into the other chicks. Sometimes, she kept one eyeContinue reading “A Chicken Gets Her Wings”
