In one of her books, Madeline L’Engle recounted a story she had heard: “Someone tells me of a story of a bishop who lost his wife and child in a tragic accident.  And he said to his people, ‘I have been all the way to the bottom.  And it is solid.'” I too have found that to be true—for the most part. Like Flannery O’Connor once wrote, “I can, with one eye squinted, take it all as a blessing.”

 

Word keeper, mother, observer, sacred eavesdropper, close-reader, wounded healer, beauty-finder, skeptic, and trying to put all that into words. Lover of libraries, crepuscular rays, murmurations, etymology, flowers and dachshunds in sweaters; the scents of lavender, coffee, and books. An anglophile whose favorite writing accoutrements are a cup of PG Tips and digestives with dark chocolate.

Published Works

DEAR AUDREY 

After my 33-year-old husband, a well-known rock cellist, drowned in Lake Geneva, Switzerland while touring with singer Regina Spektor, I found myself searching for meaning in the intersection of fresh widowhood and young motherhood. I documented both at Dear Audrey.

Stranded Until New Year’s Eve

So there's the blizzard in the Northeast and after an unsuccessful trip to the airport here in Phoenix, we're back at my aunt's with a rebooked flight on Friday- that's right Friday.Traveling with a toddler for six nights has taken its toll, and Audrey herself woke up...

Reunion

So many times throughout each day, I imagine it.  I see you walking towards me...

Easter

"...Can there be any day but this,Though many sunnes to shine endeavour?We count three hundred, but we misse:There is but one, and that one ever." from "Easter" in "The Temple" by George Herbert"...With thee Let me combine, And feel this day thy...

Father’s Day 2013

This is the third time.  It is brutal.I haven't felt it helpful or complex enough to say, "It's not fair; it's just not fair," in the past three years.  But on this day, I think those words a lot. Unless your young child has lost a parent, you cannot imagine...

Beauty cont.

The day after the hurricane, on our way back from the library and playground, the skies in our neighborhood were strikingly beautiful.  Every single cloud in the sky was a weightless wisp.   I have never seen a sky like this in my life.  In the clouds,...

Near-Death Experience

In a book I managed to get half-way through before it's due date- mostly because for some reason I keep taking out five or six books and trying to read them at once- entitled, "Consciousness Beyond Life," near-death experience findings, particularly in a Dutch study,...

Before or After

In the beginning, this is so easy to distinguish.  Each time you go somewhere- the grocery store, the zoo, a restaurant, you are aware that the last time you came was with him. You know that the roll of paper towels that you're using were purchased by him when he...

Jewelry Tells A Story

You used to always complain (jokingly) that I wanted jewelry, and I would try to explain that it didn't have to be anything fancy and that it wasn't about the item as much as the story behind it.  When I look at my jewelry, I think, "There's the necklace you gave...

Job

"I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water.  What I always feared has happened to me.  What I dreaded has come to be."Job 3. 24

Mother’s Day 2012

My fourth Mother's Day- second without you.   On the Widowed Parent group on Facebook, someone writes, "Teeny children don't have money.  And so dads have a great deal to do with Mother's day going off without a hitch."  True.  Three year olds...

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.

Frederick Buechner

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