We are clinging to Christmas for as long as it will let us…or at least until next weekend, which is the firm deadline I gave the youngest member of our household when he insisted we leave all our decorations – including the tree – up “forever.” I get a little twitchy post-New Year’s Eve although, [...]
Some gifts steal your breath and you have to look away for a moment or two to catch it back. That’s what happened to us Christmas Eve when we saw the painting our daughter Katherine had commissioned for us. The artwork, painted by the very talented Hannah Ribbens, captures a moment in which our two [...]
I thought about hope this weekend and how it can blindside you sometimes with its apparent fragility. An angry outburst, a scary diagnosis, an unexpected storm, some disappointing news, a million small things can chase hope away. But, hope is a stubborn beauty and more steadfast than we know. All it takes is faith (and [...]
The Great Pumpkin landed on our front porch last week and we are thrilled. Grown and carved by a young friend of mine and his talented grandpa, the pumpkin weighed a healthy 180 pounds in its prime. It lost 60 pounds in preparation for the holiday season (due to gastric surgery that relieved him of [...]
My husband and I have been foster parents for the past 20 months. That’s an awkward sentence and one we rarely utter due to confidentiality concerns and the fact that it generally inspires some sort of effusive and unearned compliment that makes us both uncomfortable. We have met plenty of amazing people -- genuine heroes [...]
