Calling Mom
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? Houses decked out with sparkly lights, framing trees shimmering through living room windows . . . ‘Tis the season. I can almost taste Mom’s homemade almond roca, peanut brittle or fudge. Mmm . . . This time of year, I especially miss my mom. Truthfully, I remember only a handful of times during our lives that we didn’t spend Christmas together, so I suppose it’s natural to feel a void. If we can’t be together, I wish I might at least call her up to hear her voice, but sadly acknowledge this possibility disappeared with her passing ten years ago. Perhaps I should have…
Memories and Musings
Lately, I’ve been nostalgic for the 1950’s, the decade of my early childhood. I daydream about life then, remembering the holidays with oodles of relatives crowding into our kitchen and around the dining table, first to eat and later, to talk or play cards. Sifting through my memories, I remember it as a simpler time, filled with love, delicious food, laughter and conversation. This year, as is our custom, we spent Thanksgiving with my son and family, who live across town. My daughter-in-law’s entire family joined us so, mimicking my childhood, fifteen of us crowded around two tables stretched out to be one. After we’d all had our fill of…
Opportunity
By Vicki Tapia Opportunity: a favorable, appropriate, or advantageous combination of circumstances; a chance or prospect What would life be like without opportunity? I find the thought rather bleak. Opportunity can be sought after, but it can also seek us. Opportunity sought me when I became the family caregiver for both my parents, who had dementia. How often do we look at a person with dementia and see…well, see a demented person? As yet, there’s no way to slow or stop the progression of this devastating disease, so how could we possibly reframe it as an opportunity in, and of, itself? Can we not only learn to accept the person’s…
Empathy? Kindness? Say, what?
His comment raised the hackles on the back of my neck and my thoughts turned dark. I visualized the bold headline: “Author Attacks Book-Signing Attendee!” With a slight shiver, I decided it best to continue smiling, nodding and change the subject at the earliest possible moment. People had begun wending their way toward a seat in the outdoor pavilion, the event nearly ready to commence. An elderly gentleman accompanied by his wife most likely wished himself home watching a baseball game on T.V. I’d already listened to him insult her earlier in a condescending tone of voice when she asked him a question. I watched out of the corner of…
Two Notes To Self
It’s been two years now since a young man came to our front door on a Saturday afternoon to ask if it would be okay if he stood on our stencil-painted brick steps to propose to his girlfriend the following weekend (read Huff Post story here). Steps are steps, right? Well, maybe not. What appeared as a series of steps to my husband and me had transformed into a magical destination for someone else. Perception. Imagination. What one person perceives as utilitarian — a means to move from here to there — another person imagines as a work of art, worthy to be the stage for the most important question he’s ever…
Not too hot. Not too cold.
It’s one of those perfect days. Out on a walk with my mini-Schnauzer, I delight in feeling the warmth of the spring sun dancing across my back. I realize again what a long winter we have experienced. We had the more snow here this past winter than any other year since the weather bureau began keeping records. Day after day of cold weather eventually wore me down, so I’m elated to see spring finally make her appearance. Walking along the sidewalk, my neighbors’ yellow daffodils and red tulips wave to me in the breeze, reminding me that even with its unpredictability, I love this season of rebirth. Yes, today has…
Embracing Change
This season of the year is a time for renewal; a time of rebirth. Out with the old…those dried leaves from last year. In with the new…little green shoots pushing their way out of the earth. I found hope for the spring season’s arrival three weeks ago when I spotted one tiny, purple Venca bloom in my backyard in southcentral Montana. It’s a comfort to know that despite the many and varied challenges in life, we can depend upon change. Nothing—no thing—remains forever the same. The world can be a mystery and if we are open to change, it will create an openness in us, a willingness to experience new…
Time And Our Spirit Number
The oldest of my three children turned 40 years old today. When I wasn’t looking, time played a trick on me. In a mere blink of the eye, the sweet baby I once held in my arms now has three children of her own. Time passed! How did that happen? It is a known fact: If we are alive, we grow older. Some of us even grow wiser, but that’s not a given. Our outer shell will continue to manifest physical changes, marked by that yearly given number. In reaching the beginning of her fifth decade, my daughter shared with me a bit of her growing wisdom. She now recognizes…
Excerpt from Maggie: A Journey of Love, Loss and Survival
Chapter 15 May, 1896. I drove down the lane towards our farmhouse with trepidation. As I approached, the barn doors hung open, an ominous sign. I almost hoped it was a thief, as I would rather face a thief than my husband. It was no thief. Sam must have heard our approach, as he stormed out of the barn and rounded the side of the house as I drove on by. His eyes ablaze with rage, he attempted to grab the horse’s harness. I considered turning around and heading back the way I’d come, but knew the strategy would prove futile and possibly dangerous. I envisioned him jumping upon Absalom…
Excerpt from Somebody Stole My Iron
The Curious Occurrence of the Comet Cleanser Mom’s shoes had developed a pervasive stench. There was no other way to describe it. In hindsight, I realize it may have been related to the fact that she continuously wore the same pair of leg-support knee-highs. I was somehow deluded into thinking she washed them occasionally. Now I realize she probably did not. I could have been more proactive about washing them myself, but she always wore them, and did not want an additional pair as she felt the cost was too expensive. It would have been an excellent idea if I had bought her a second pair anyway, and helped her…
Author | Adventurer | Advocate
