To my dearest Kaia, I know you long for the letters to make sense, to unite themselves and speak to you. I know each syllable is a battle for you and I see you fighting. By the time you are able to read this well, you will have won the battle. You will have put in the hours of tracing your finger along the page and sounding out each painstaking phonics rule with your brows knit tight and the corner of your lower lip tucked between your teeth. You will have arranged letter tiles, your tiny …
Love Letters
My One Word for 2016: Enjoy
Yesterday, I got a package in the mail from a friend I met through this blog. We’ve chatted a few times in person and now I put a face and voice to the comments she leaves on my blog posts. There are literally hundreds of connections that have been made through this space. Spilling words and stories for the last 4 years, I’ve made some heart-deep friendships. In some ways it seems like I’ve done this forever and in other ways, I’d have thought I’d know more, been further, had my book written, …
When Hollowed and Holy Quiet Speaks Loudest: On Hospitality
We’re sitting in the glow of neon, the golden arches casting pale yellow and red on the asphalt where we’re parked. I’m sipping iced tea even thought it’s cold and we’re clutched by winters deep spell, flurries scattering around outside haphazardly lacking the stamina to collect themselves on the ground. The windshield wiper swipes at them randomly streaking the window with frost. I’ve pulled my hat down low over my unwashed hair and my arms wrap across me as if my embrace could somehow hold …
