Grieving One September at a Time
I hate September. I haven’t always hated September. It wasn’t until last year that I really started to loathe the month. Sure, I hate summer ending, but it wasn’t about swimsuit season coming to an end. It was about all of the gold. So much gold. All for pediatric cancer. I wanted to delete, unfollow […]
Hurricane Homesickness
The outer bands of Hurricane Hermine are pounding down on our metal roof as I write. We are soaking up (and charging up) our remaining hours before the inevitable power outage. Our refrigerator is stocked with water, milk and (let’s be honest) wine. Our pantry is also stocked with the essentials: bread, peanut butter, every […]
All Dogs Go to Heaven
10am. My sweet Lola is curled up in my lap as I write. In a few hours, I will give her a final hug and kiss. My precious baby, my first baby. Her body is tired and I can’t bear to watch her suffer anymore. Even Lilly, our bulldog, knows it is time. She is […]
unBRoken
Just over a week ago, my beloved hometown of Baton Rouge was practically washed away in one of the worst floods in US history. My 93-year old grandmother and mom were stranded on the interstate for over 30-hours. Some of my dearest friends and their families have lost absolutely everything. While my friends spent the […]
How to Avoid the Freshman 15
The signature Wal-Mart yellow face smiled down on my mom and me as we slowly pushed our buggy through the back to school aisles. I was just a few weeks away from moving out and into my college dorm at Ole Miss. Most freshman fear the move away from home, making friends or getting into a […]
Everything I Know, (Some of It) I Learned from My Dad
He is going to kill me for doing this, but love it at the same time. He will call me and say, “You rascal! That was fantastic. You’re such a great writer. I’m so proud of you. You’re terrific. I love you.” Yep, that’s my daddy. Always a silver lining. Always something positive. Always a […]
A Transgender, Lesbian and Sorority Girl Walk into a Bar
…they sat down, ordered a beer and started reminiscing on the good ole days. This was last weekend for me, at the wedding of one of my dearest and oldest camp friends. Camp Green Cove has connected me with the most extraordinary people on earth. We come from different walks of life and wear different […]
My Husband Saw Me Naked
[Guest Blog for Jacksonville Mom Blog] Soapy suds ran down my naked body in the shower. I closed my eyes in an attempt at one minute of peace in my whirlwind life as a working mom with two babies. No such luck. “Honey,” my husband yelled as he swung open the bathroom door holding Marjorie. […]
On Being Still
Weekends in treatment were slow…and I mean sloooooow. It was so frustrating to have so much downtime in our schedule. We should be ‘working’ and ‘doing’, marking things off our imaginary Recovery To Do list. Having an empty day meant I was being unproductive and lazy. As it turns out, down time at the Carolina House was […]
Cuddling With Fear & Daring to FAIL
Sunday afternoon I found myself in my office catching up on emails. My professional procrastination got the best of me as I began searching the world wide web (read: Facebook). The TedxJacksonville page popped up with its annual call for speakers. I thought back to last year when this popped on my feed, the difference being it […]